Psykisk sundhed, symptomatologi, social støtte og mestring hos hiv-positive

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In this article, the literature from 1990–96 on psychiatric morbidity, depression, social support, and coping in hiv+ subjects is reviewed and discussed. Studies of psychiatric morbidity are divergent: Some find no effect of hiv-seropositivity, others find an increase in psychiatric disorders. The studies on depression, social support, and coping present a more unequivocal picture. Degree of depression is positively associated to degree of hiv-related symptoms. Social support and active coping have a positive affect on health, levels of symptoms, and social functioning. Degree of traumatisation and psychological defence in hiv-positives do not seem to have been investigated.