One thought on “New York Times: Patient’s Voices

  1. The reality of knowing that one is been diagnosed with any form of disease is heartbreaking. And for these people (in Patient Voices) who were diagnosed with HIV, the biggest fear is the fact that the REALITY of the disease is no fake or duplicated one , but the original; and plainly the truth and reality of a disease in their system that they would have to live with for the rest of their lives. As shocked as some of them were to know about the diagnosis, they did not back away totally from the world and allow anxiety and emotion to take over them, but rather accept the reality and calm their anxiety and find a way to get around with it. Because what would be meaningless for them to have done was for them to have allowed anxiety turned into emotional turmoil which would have reduced their health the more. Therefore, to curtail their anxiety was to suppress it, accept the reality that the disease is present in them and tried to be positive mentally. But one could only imagine when you put yourself in their place especially when it comes to relationships. For instance, whether family, friends, or a partner, or even meeting someone new, it’s hard (even without showing it) at that very moment to reveal or not to reveal that, “I have HIV” fearing what the outcome might be. For example, Raven Lopez 18, from Brooklyn, who was approached by a guy from the same school, ended up diverting her response to focusing on her education – which eventually upset the guy. I presume, in her case, to her as a young teenager, it was hard knowing that she is young with this disease, and if she doesn’t reframe, it could be worse or hard for the person (guy) trying to come into her life, regardless of using condom, but just the fact when the person (who probably is not HIV positive finds out that she is), what would be going on in their mind. So she tried educating her friends and letting them know the importance of using condoms because anyone could catch the disease – though their statements was vague to her. Additionally, another very important factor of knowing that one is been diagnosed with HIV is the persons mental capability. If positive thoughts are not exercise, the chances of speeding up a deteriorating health would be inevitable; and for these people, although the news at first was heart-rending and was hard to swallow, but their cognition power kept them going. Accepting the reality of the disease, staying calm, and finding ways to help themselves and others so they don’t become victim(s) was a perfect step they took as part of their mastery competency to be able to live with the disease, stay strong and healthy, and still have the courage to come out and tell the world, and educate others of preventive care of avoiding becoming victim(s).

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *