HIV Self-Stigma

Imagine if you had an illness that made it almost impossible to go out each day. Imagine if that illness meant you couldn't eat properly and lost dangerous amounts of weight. Imagine that it made your work more difficult and you could never make any progress.

Now imagine that illness made you so frightened that you could barely speak to anyone about it, not even your family. Imagine you felt so ashamed that you couldn't discuss it with your friends, whom you begin to ignore but only because you are convinced that they are ignoring you. Imagine that it also made you so angry you could only shout at your children when they did something wrong. Or shout at your colleagues because you truly believe that they are criticising you and laughing at you behind your back.

There's a name for this illness: HIV. But it's not the HIV itself that causes all these terrible problems, but the stigma that accompanies it. The stigma that makes you believe you are no longer a worthy human being.

But here's the thing: you can choose to ignore that stigma. You can choose to ignore all the destructive beliefs that can come with HIV and you can live your life to the full once again. Not only that, but you can help others to overcome their stigma too, because believe us, you're not the only one suffering from it. In fact, you can learn to love yourself so much that it may sometimes even feel that the HIV itself has disappeared too.

And yes: I'm talking about you.

By: Robert Bartram