Stigma-Proofing
posted: 14/05/2010
A recent survey of older people with HIV tells us that 9 out of 10 times when people tell someone else about having HIV, the telling goes well.
But we also know that many people do worry a lot about HIV stigma. It often makes people feel bad about themselves. We ‘internalise’ some of the nonsense we have heard about HIV. One example is we may believe we have been bad and somehow deserve to have HIV.
One key lesson is learning to spot and deal with internalised feelings from stigma. It is extremely powerful to know how to identify stigma and its effects. It helps to understand how and when stigma happens, and how it affects you when it happens.
What’s your normal reaction?
Do you get angry, hurt, withdrawn, depressed, or infuriated? Fear of stigma is worse than actual stigma. Learning to understand stigma, how it operates, and what happens as a result helps us reduce our stigma worries.
Tell the stories
One way is through sharing stories -- stories of hurts, of successes, of triumphs, and of events in your life that felt discriminatory or stigmatising. These stories can be about HIV, race, gender, age, class, etc. Laughing, crying, and shaking while you do this helps. But simply telling and retelling the stories of what happened works as well.
Find and keep Allies around us
Second is to collect and look after allies. Allies are helpers, people who stand side-by-side with you, taking up the struggle, who always remember you are good and who have confidence in you no matter what. Find and look after any effective allies - nurture, support, and encourage them, just as they need to nurture, support, and encourage you.
To find suitable allies, think about the people you trust and who you want to have close to you. Then think about what it will take to get them in your life. Simply finding and asking potential allies for their help may be the best thing you can do to end your internalised stigma. Naming your problem and asking someone we trust to help us is powerful.
Allies in anti-stigma action
Allies are there to learn about and understand you, to think well about you, stand side-by-side with you as you face the challenges of HIV stigma – stigma that you don’t deserve.
Self Care
A third thing to try is what we may call "self care". Be gentle and kind with yourself. Eat well. Exercise. Take care of your body. Do things that you enjoy whether that's dancing, going to the movies, reading, walking in the countryside, or being with good friends.
Self care goes a long way towards maintaining a healthy, productive perspective on life and in gaining an understanding of what is coming at you from outside (external stigma) as compared to what comes from inside of yourself (internalised stigma).
Stigma is a key issue in living with HIV. HIV stigma comes from a long list of old issues in our culture, none of which have anything to do with HIV itself (things like sexuality, gender, race, xenophobia).
Stigma is directed at lots of groups in our society and it gets confusing to know how it operates and whether the stigma is because of HIV, race, gender, sexual orientation, or something entirely different. Stigma affects us all and we can do something about it for ourselves and others.
Our HIV Stigma Resources page
article is edited from The Body
Permalink