Self esteem and HIV

Self-esteem is an essential ingredient in creating and maintaining hope, health and a quality life with HIV. Many people living with HIV have problems with self-esteem. Feelings of guilt, whether rational or not, that we have brought this on ourselves and affected our loved ones can be very damaging.

Guilt will not lead to a happy life with HIV. High or good self-esteem does. We must learn to work through the guilt, and move onto feeling good enough about ourselves to create and maintain a happy good quality life. Low self-esteem can prevent those of us with HIV from caring for ourselves: If you don't feel good about yourself, you may not do things that are essential to keep healthy.

It doesn't matter how you contracted HIV. All of us who have it face the same challenge of learning to live with it and doing everything possible to stay healthy or get healthy Remember, you are not alone, so If you’re having a struggle with self-esteem issues or just need to talk to someone, support is available that will enable you to live a hopeful, healthy life with HIV. If it’s not possible to talk to your friends or family, there are agencies who can help, see our useful contacts section.