Living With Hiv -The Psychological Relevance Of Meaning Making

ABSTRACT

HIV is considered a global disease, infecting and affecting the lives of millions of people. So far, the psychological experience of being HIV-positive has not yet been investigated sufficiently. The aim of this study is to explore how HIV-infected individuals evaluate their own lives, particularly how they find meaning in living with this life-threatening virus and how they cope with their HIV-positive status by making meaning out of it.

Work done on meaning making and coping by Park & Folkman (1997) informs this study and provides the theoretical framework. Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted with individuals who were diagnosed as HIV-positive, but had not yet developed AIDS. The data was then analyzed by means of a circular deconstruction method developed by Jaeggi & Faas (1991). Fifteen dimensions relevant to meaning making and coping processes were identified.

The results showed that all interviewees experienced their HIV diagnosis as a critical life event and felt largely responsible for its occurrence. They experienced self-blame, inter alias, and chose to accept the situation - even when they were not entirely responsible for contracting the virus. The study also revealed that almost half of those interviewed thought about ending their lives after the diagnosis. This was because they felt that they could not change or alter the situation. However, it did not influence their goal-making behavior, and most of the interviewees appeared to still

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make plans for the future. Planning or making goals could be an important expression of hope, which is crucial for meaning making and for coping. Through hope, individuals can experience a sense of control.

Interviewees showed both problem-focused and emotion-focused coping mechanisms and tried to integrate the experience of being HIV-positive into their lives as much as possible. Those who were employed, as well as those who received counselling or similar support, also showed a better sense of coping with the disease than those who had no such support.

Interestingly, almost all interviewees expressed the fact that being HIV-positive has brought a change in their spiritual life. Some mentioned that they have had complete religious conversions. These findings are an expression of meaning making and could explain why interviewees have not given up hope and have been able to maintain their perception of control over life.