Plans to hasten death among gay men with HIV/AIDS: Relationship to psychological adjustment

Abstract

This study assessed the prevalence and nature of thoughts and future plans to end one's life in a group of gay men with HIV/AIDS over an 18-month period. HIV-positive men ( n = 167) participated in a series of clinical interviews which measured current health status, current and past psychiatric disorders, current levels of distress, and thoughts and plans about ending their lives currently or at some future point. A small number of HIV-positive men (17%) reported serious thoughts or plans to end their lives at some point in the future which were stable over an 18-month period. No differences in psychiatric or medical measures were observed among men with and without thoughts/plans at either assessment point. In the absence of current psychiatric disorders, such thoughts or plans about the future may represent one way to maintain control and independence in the face of the uncertainty of life with HIV illness.