AIDS and HIV aren’t just potentially devastating health conditions, they are permeated with stigma and a weighty community trauma of being ostracized, vilified, and abandoned. Although there are now optimistic standard treatments that can mitigate the disease’s physical effects and a better general public understanding of these conditions, we still have to process the complex effects that a diagnosis can have on our romantic, social, professional, and emotional lives. An HIV or AIDS diagnosis can be overwhelming, but there is a supportive community out there ready to provide information, encouragement, and solidarity.
