DISORDER AND CURE

Four decades have passed since the first cases of what we now know as HIV/AIDS were reported, and yet the psychological landscape surrounding this diagnosis remains as complex and layered as ever. While medical advances in 2025 have transformed HIV from a death sentence into a manageable chronic condition, the emotional and social terrain that people with HIV must navigate continues to present profound challenges that extend far beyond the realm of physical health. The journey of living with HIV begins not with the virus itself, but with the moment of diagnosis—a psychological watershed that fundamentally alters one's relationship with their own body, their future, and their place in the world. This moment carries within it the weight of decades of stigma, fear, and misinformation that have accumulated around HIV since the early 1980s. Despite remarkable medical progress, including the development of long-acting injectable medications that have simplified treatment regimens, the ps...