HIV-Positive Men Give Advice to Their Former Selves

Imagine all of the worries, questions, and concerns that would race through your mind on the day you were diagnosed with HIV. The endless barrage of worst-case scenarios run on a loop as you try to gather yourself and somehow make it to a safe place to sort it all out.

In this moment, the world probably seem as if it will never be the same again as you vacillate from feelings of numbness to restless panic. And even though you think time has stopped, soon it has been a week, then a month, and then years since that day in the clinic when you thought your life was over. It wasn’t.

Life goes on, and sometimes, it can even get better post-HIV diagnosis if you have the right medical and emotional support. Sure, things might be a little more complicated, but it is by navigating those complications that you get to know yourself and find the strength that you might not have known you had.