Coping With HIV - The Body

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Coping With HIV

READ FIRST:

How Does It Feel? (Fall/Winter 2003)
8 reasons why asking yourself this question may make you healthier
To read PDF, click here
In The Positive Side, from Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange
Testing Positive: To Panic, or Not to Panic? (May/June 2005)
"HIV is still scary," David Salyer says -- and it's OK to freak out when an HIV test comes back positive.
In Survival News, from AIDS Survival Project
Ten Things You Can Do to Enhance Your Emotional Well-Being (2005)
To read PDF, click here
In Ten Simple Things You Can Do ..., from Body Positive
The Lipodystrophy Look (October 2002)
Psychologist J. Buzz von Ornsteiner offers advice on coping with the emotional effects of lipodystrophy.
In Body Positive, from Body Positive

Coping Advice

Coping With Serious Illness: Sandra Haber, Ph.D., Answers Your Questions (Regularly Updated)
From American Psychological Association
An Open Letter: Woman to Woman (September/October 2007)
Heidi Nass describes how she forgave herself for testing positive.
In Positively Aware, from Test Positive Aware Network
Big Deal: Offering Advice to a Friend Who Tests Positive (September/October 2007)
In Positively Aware, from Test Positive Aware Network
Sweet Release: An Exercise for Letting Go of Negative Energy (May/June 2007)
To read PDF, click here
In Positively Aware, from Test Positive Aware Network
The Wholistic Picture: Response Ability (July/August 2006)
Sue Saltmarsh urges people with HIV never to simply accept it when they're wronged, whether it's by their politicians, their doctors or the prejudices of society.
To read PDF, click here
In Positively Aware, from Test Positive Aware Network
Treating Grief Like a Bruise in Need of Healing (March/April 2006)
Herbalist and HIV advocate Sue Saltmarsh advises on one way a person can heal the hurt when they feel stuck in depression or anger.
To read PDF, click here
In Positively Aware, from Test Positive Aware Network
Why Laughter Really May Be the Best Medicine (September/October 2005)
Psychologist Barbara Rubin talks about the positive effects of humor in dealing with life's challenges.
To read PDF, click here
In Survival News, from AIDS Survival Project
Dallas Morning News Examines Experiences of HIV-Positive Residents in Rural North Texas, Where Stigma of AIDS "More Acute" (May 31, 2005)
In Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, from Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation
For Party Addicts Seeking Help, Ways to Navigate the Obstacle Course (October 2004)
Down-to-earth advice for HIV-positive party boys looking to break the cycle of sex, drugs and alcohol.
In Body Positive, from Body Positive
Eight Simple Rules for Managing Those Holiday Blues (November/December 2003)
In Survival News, from AIDS Survival Project
What's the Point? (July/August 2003)
HIV-positive hypnotherapist Seth Engber on keeping a positive attitude when you're HIV positive.
To read PDF, click here
In Positively Aware, from Test Positive Aware Network
Making Change (May/June 2003)
A five-step process may help you adjust to the changes in your life that HIV infection will bring about.
In Survival News, from AIDS Survival Project
AIDS Cocktail: Medicine, Faith and Trust (March 20, 2002)
In CDC HIV/Hepatitis/STD/TB Prevention News Update, from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Journey Toward Empowerment (November 2001)
In Body Positive, from Body Positive
D for "Diagnosis" or for "Denial"? (October 2001)
In Body Positive, from Body Positive
The Quality of Life of CRIA Update Readers: Survey Results (Fall 2001)
To read PDF, click here
In CRIA Update, from AIDS Community Research Initiative of America
Believe It ... Women Get AIDS! (August 2001)
In WORLD Newsletter, from Women Organized to Respond to Life-Threatening Diseases
Setting Goals for Health and Fitness (July 2001)
In Body Positive, from Body Positive
How to Overcome Fear and Shame: When That HIV Test Comes Back Positive (Summer 2001)
In Women Alive Newsletter, from Women Alive
Making Decisions About Antiviral Therapy (May 2001)
In HIV Treatment: Mental Health Aspects of Antiviral Therapy, from University of California-San Francisco AIDS Health Project
Getting Creative: Creativity Can Be a Key to Better Physical and Mental Health (April 2001)
In Body Positive, from Body Positive
Bouncing Back After an Illness (March 2001)
In Body Positive, from Body Positive
Friends as Family? (March 2001)
Is it possible to create my own family of friends who will care for me?.
In Body Positive, from Body Positive
Psychological Issues and HIV: Dealing With the Uncertainty of Changing Treatment Strategies (March 2001)
From AIDS Community Research Initiative of America
Subway Stress: I Can't Stand Rush Hour! (January 2001)
In Body Positive, from Body Positive
Evolving Realities of Quality of Life (Winter 2000/2001)
In CRIA Update, from AIDS Community Research Initiative of America
Eye of the Storm: Burned Out? Join the Club! (December 2000)
In Survival News, from AIDS Survival Project
Older, Yes ... but Wiser? (December 2000)
Growing older gracefully with HIV, advice from a therapist.
In Body Positive, from Body Positive
Body Positive Mental Health Roundtable (November 2000)
In Body Positive, from Body Positive
Mental Health (November 2000)
Excerpt from the Encyclopedia of AIDS.
In Body Positive, from Body Positive
Pitfalls of the "Sick Role" (November 2000)
In Body Positive, from Body Positive
To Die For (November/December 2000)
For Jim Pickett, confronting his own mortality was the hardest part of adjusting to his HIV status.
To read PDF, click here
In Positively Aware, from Test Positive Aware Network
Thinking HAART: Psychological Issues in the Treatment of HIV/AIDS (December 1999)
From Community Research Initiative on AIDS
A History of Hope: The HIV Rollercoaster (1997)
In Focus: A Guide to AIDS Research and Counseling
Challenges and Dilemmas Regarding Protease Inhibitors (1997)
In Body Positive
Kvitch: The Winds of AIDS: Optimism vs. Pessimism (January 1997)
In Body Positive, from Body Positive
Finding Your Voice; Speaking Your Truth (July 1996)
Healing through writing.
In Body Positive, from Body Positive
The Psychological Epidemic (September 1995)
By Walt Odets.
In In The Shadow of the Epidemic: Being HIV-Negative in the Age of AIDS, from Duke University Press
Coping With HIV and AIDS (December 1993)
From American Psychiatric Association
What Is Self-Empowerment? (1992)
In People With AIDS Newsline
Surviving and Thriving With AIDS (1988)
From HIV Coalition (HIVCO)
Coping With AIDS Terror: A Guide for the Urban Gay (1986)
In In Style for Men
Creed -- You Are Not Alone
In Body Positive, from Body Positive

Support Groups

Guys and Girls -- Interview With the Founder of New York City's Straight Social Group (March/April 2005)
After 10 years, 12 marriages, several babies and many new friendships, Thorner Harris' unique group has successfully given heterosexual HIVers a stigma-free way to meet up.
To read PDF, click here
In Positively Aware, from Test Positive Aware Network
The HIVe: A Social Group for HIV-Positive Gay Men in New York City (July 2004)
In Body Positive, from Body Positive
Peer Counseling Perspectives: Support Groups -- Tools for Living Well (March/April 2004)
In Survival News, from AIDS Survival Project
Older People With HIV Benefit From Telephone Support Groups (September 8, 2003)
In CDC HIV/Hepatitis/STD/TB Prevention News Update, from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Fight or Flight, Stay or Leave? (March 2003)
"As a young African-American man, I feel so different from everyone else in my support group".
In Body Positive, from Body Positive
The Challenge of Group Psychotherapy (December 2002)
In Body Positive, from Body Positive
Self Help and Empowerment: What Is It? (Summer 2002)
In Women Alive Newsletter, from Women Alive
Supporting Each Other (July 1999)
Support groups and HIV.
In Body Positive, from Body Positive
A Support Group Thrives in Brooklyn (March 1998)
Project Hope and the Brooklyn Group Support Project.
In Body Positive, from Body Positive

Self Image

When It Hurts to Ask for Help (January/February 2003)
In Body Positive, from Body Positive
Lazarus Gets A Third Wind (May 1999)
In Body Positive, from Body Positive
You Look Fabulous! (May 1997)
In Body Positive, from Body Positive
Hair and Life (April 1997)
On the loss of hair during chemotherapy.
In Body Positive, from Body Positive

Getting Professional Help

Towards an HIV/AIDS Health Education Movement (November 2002)
Why treatment education needs to be about more than just taking meds.
In GMHC Treatment Issues, from Gay Men's Health Crisis
Mental Health Issues With HIV/AIDS (September 2002)
Includes a listing of Houston-area counseling resources.
To read PDF, click here
In HIV Treatment ALERTS!, from The Center for AIDS
Should You Seek Mental Health Care? (November 2000)
In Body Positive, from Body Positive
Choosing a Therapist When You Have HIV/AIDS (1992)
From Michael Shernoff, M.S.W.

Work

Working Positive: Returning to Life (March/April 2004)
In GMHC Treatment Issues, from Gay Men's Health Crisis
"Blame": A Narrative Poem (September/October 2003)
Dennis Rhodes on leaving the corporate world behind after his HIV diagnosis.
In Body Positive, from Body Positive
Disclosing HIV in the Workplace (September/October 2003)
Steve McMahon talks about his decision to tell his coworkers he's HIV positive.
In Body Positive, from Body Positive
G.R.E.A.T. Expectations (September/October 2003)
Psychiatrist J. Buzz von Ornsteiner on how to make the most of your job search, and how to keep depression and other mental health issues from becoming an obstacle to employment.
In Body Positive, from Body Positive
Taking It Easy (January 1999)
A PWLA on his addiction to work.
In Survival News, from AIDS Survival Project
Save It -- If You've Got Something to Say About My Being Unemployed! (June 1998)
In Survival News, from AIDS Survival Project

Religion/Spirituality

Burning Away the Sorrow: How an HIVer Found Himself Again (March/April 2007)
To read PDF, click here
In Positively Aware, from Test Positive Aware Network
Taking It on Faith: How Spirituality Can Heal What Meds Aren't Made to Mend (July/August 2005)
To read PDF, click here
In Positively Aware, from Test Positive Aware Network
On the Path Toward Reclaiming Your Spirituality, Expect Some Bumps Along the Way (March/April 2005)
Jeff Berry on his journey from diagnosis to disclosure to acceptance -- and the role that spirituality can play, even for someone who isn't religious.
To read PDF, click here
In Positively Aware, from Test Positive Aware Network
Spirituality and Living With HIV (March/April 2005)
Spirituality can affect our bodies as much as medications can, writes Guy Pujol, D.Min.
In Survival News, from AIDS Survival Project
AIDS Is not a Punishment: Overcoming Guilt and Shame (December 20, 2003)
To read PDF, click here
From PositiveWords
Treatment by Retreat (August 1999)
A report from a religious healing retreat for people with HIV.
In Survival News, from AIDS Survival Project
With a Song in My Heart (December 1998)
A report from the Atlanta area HIV/AIDS spiritual retreat "Heartsong".
In Survival News, from AIDS Survival Project
What's Spirit Got to Do With It? (July 1998)
In Body Positive, from Body Positive
Choose Life! Taking Action to Be Fully Alive With HIV/AIDS (1994)
From Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches AIDS Ministry
HIV/AIDS: Is It God's Judgment? (1994)
From Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches AIDS Ministry
Spiritual Strength for Survival: Finding Hope to Be Fully Alive With HIV/AIDS (1989)
From Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches AIDS Ministry

Pets

A Lad and His Dog (May/June 2002)
Carlos Perez writes about how his life changed when he got a dog.
To read PDF, click here
In Positively Aware, from Test Positive Aware Network
Here, Kitty Kitty (March/April 2001)
Why pets are good for you.
In Positively Aware, from Test Positive Aware Network
The Company I Keep (February 1999)
Animal companions.
In Body Positive, from Body Positive

Odds & Ends

How I Find the JOY in Every Day (Spring 2008)
To read PDF, click here
In The Positive Side, from Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange
On the Road With HIV: A Guide for Positive Travelers (Summer 2007)
In Bulletin of Experimental Treatments for AIDS, from San Francisco AIDS Foundation
Ten Things You Can Do to Have Fun and Make a Difference in NYC (2005)
To read PDF, click here
In Ten Simple Things You Can Do ..., from Body Positive
The Past, the Present and the Future (July/August 2004)
A reflective essay written in 2001 by Charles Clifton, the Chicago AIDS advocate who passed away in August 2004.
In GMHC Treatment Issues, from Gay Men's Health Crisis
Medals for Our Misery (June/July 2002)
Let's start giving Troop HIV some recognition.
In Positive Living, from AIDS Project Los Angeles
My Story Could Be Yours (December 2000)
How to respond to offensive comments about HIV.
In Body Positive, from Body Positive
Quotes (Summer 1998)
After 16 years with HIV, the author has collected a few odd statements about AIDS.
In Women Alive Newsletter, from Women Alive
Other Experts (January 1997)
In Women Alive Newsletter, from Women Alive
Long-Term Survivors of HIV/AIDS (May 1996)
In PWA Newsline
Gay Men With AIDS in Rural America (1996)
In The Journal of Gay and Lesbian Social Services
Coping With the Holidays With AIDS/HIV (1991)
In People With AIDS Coalition Newsline

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