The Importance of Support

by Kellee Terrell

Another crucial step in maximizing your whole health is mobilizing your extended support system—family, friends, church family, you name it. If the idea of opening up to someone makes you anxious or apprehensive, realize that you don’t have to go through this alone.

Disclosure 101
If you are living with HIV, telling people you’re positive and letting them into your life may be physically and emotionally beneficial, but it’s not an easy thing to do. Some people still have misperceptions  about how HIV is spread and what being infected with the virus really means. Stigma and fear of rejection are reasons why some people prefer to remain quiet about their status. But if you want to disclose, how do you go about it?

“I spent so much energy hiding my status that it was taking a toll on me,” admits Nathan Townsend, who was diagnosed in 1984. “But after 22 years, I wanted to be open and I finally accepted myself. And now, I am liberated.”

Townsend, an HIV/AIDS awareness educator in Philadephia, who also works closely with HIV-positive clients, offers these suggestions on disclosing:

•    Waiting until you have come to terms with your diagnosis might make it easier to disclose. Consider going through a support route with an ASO or doctor, which may put you in a better position to be honest with others.
•    Before you educate anyone about HIV, educate yourself. Townsend says he comes across many positive people who don’t know the basics, like how the virus is and is not transmitted.
•    Sometimes we unnecessarily project our fears onto other people. Don’t always assume that people are not going to accept you.