The month of December is dedicated to national mobilization for HIV prevention and encouragement of care and assistance for people living with the virus.
HIV treatment has achieved significant advances from the point of view of efficiency in controlling the infection and reducing the side effects of medications.
Although antiretroviral therapy has evolved and the infection is treatable like other chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes, the impacts on mental health of people who receive the diagnosis are still significant.
“The impact of the HIV diagnosis turns out to be different from that related to other diseases largely due to the social stigma associated with the virus”, says psychologist Maycon Rodrigo Torres, member of the Laboratory of Psychoanalysis and Social Laço at the Fluminense Federal University (UFF) and professor of psychology Faculdade Maria Thereza (Famath).
The expert says that the fact that HIV infection is mainly linked to sexual transmission reinforces the association of infection with issues related to sexuality.
“In diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure, there is not such an explicit morality component as in relation to HIV. The point of sexuality and the difficulty that society has in dealing with the issue influences the way in which this diagnosis is received”, says Torres.
“Despite technological advances in terms of treatment and people’s quality of life, ultimately, social prejudice ends up directly influencing people’s fear and the way they deal with the infection”, he adds.
lack of support
The transvestite Iza Potter, 38, lived in Italy when she was diagnosed with HIV at the age of 23. Hospitalized due to tuberculosis, Iza tells the CNN which was informed in a traumatic way and without any psychological support.
“After three days in the hospital, a nurse went to do some procedure and said ‘you know you have HIV, right, you already know that’. I replied that no, that I didn’t know. There was no psychological support at the time, ”she says. “I was desperate at that moment,” she reports.
Iza says that the doctor in charge of the case then called the nurse’s attention and explained the diagnosis. She states that she felt the health professional’s approach as if, because she was a transvestite, the diagnosis of HIV was something expected.
“She didn’t ask, she said ‘you know, right’. No I did not know. It was a very difficult time, ”she points out.
Iza claims to have suffered from difficulties common to the trans and transvestite population with regard to accessing health services, such as disrespecting the social name.
“Because I am a transvestite, having this issue of thinking that I will not find psychological support, or because perhaps the hospital called me by my male name and this is repeated in all countries, because people are not prepared to receive a transvestite and other things of the genre, because that’s what happens. This leads you to create certain types of barriers so that you do not seek care, ”she says.
She claims that the transition as a transvestite was the first time she needed to reinvent herself and that she considers the HIV diagnosis the second. Today, Iza is an activist and speaks openly about HIV-related issues in the Instagram and not youtube🇧🇷
“I leave a message for the general public, but mainly for trans women and transvestites who stop taking tests, taking care of themselves or even seeking treatment: it’s not the end, it’s just a restart, it’s not a disease, it’s a chronic infection and everyone will take some medicine one day, don’t worry”, he says.
Access to diagnosis
In Brazil, laboratory tests and rapid tests, which detect antibodies against HIV in about 30 minutes, can be performed free of charge at units of the Unified Health System (SUS) and at Testing and Counseling Centers (CTA). Know where to take the test 🇧🇷
People who have experienced a risk situation, such as having had unprotected sex or sharing syringes, should be tested, in accordance with the recommendations of the Ministry of Health.
In the testing centers, in addition to the collection and execution of tests, a counseling process is offered to facilitate the correct interpretation of results.
Psychoanalyst Cassio Rotenberg, professor at the Brazilian Society of Psychoanalysis of São Paulo (SBPSP), says that therapeutic follow-up can reduce the impact of the diagnosis on mental health.
“This person who imagines that life is over is often unaware of how much life he has inside of him and how much this vivacity, this instinct for life, will help him reverse this moment he is living”, says Rotenberg.
“From a psychoanalytical point of view, we can help that person to be calm enough to say ‘trust me, you yourself will begin to realize that life is not over’”, he says.
Source: CNN Brasil
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