How might it affect me? ·
You might experience a range of feelings and emotions which could include:
- anger
- fear
- loss
- depression
- disappointment
- love
- feeling protective.
These are natural feelings and many are going to be similar to what your friend or relative is feeling. You, just like them, will need time to adjust and come to terms with the fact that someone you care about has HIV. This will not happen immediately and you will experience good days and bad. It is important that you have support if you need it, and there are agencies and support groups that you can talk to.
What will people think about me?
The only people who should know about a person’s HIV status are the people they have chosen to tell and those involved in their medical care.
Sometimes people your friend or relative has told do not react or will not react well and it may be that they similarly react badly to you. Unfortunately, stigma and discrimination are still quite common in relation to HIV and there may be times when you experience this through association. You may have to be prepared to lose some friends or be ostracised by other family members.
Remember that HIV a is medical condition, not a punishment. It does not make someone who has it a bad person; they are not dirty, sinful or deliberately out to infect others.
Hostility and prejudice can be hard and it is terribly unfair, but you need to try and rise above it. Most of the time it is a lack of information and understanding about HIV that makes people act this way.
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