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Abstract
Persons with HIV face the choice of disclosing or keeping their status a secret from their social milieus. Concealment as a tactic was studied via interviews with 30 HIV-positive Israelis. They were interviewed in depth and the data was processed by means of qualitative content analysis. The explanations presented by the respondents for the concealment are categorized as “justifications.” The data showed that assistance from family members helped to sustain the concealment; they were categorized as “collaborators.” A further category was identified as “acquired skills.” Concealment was found to be the lesser of two problematic alternatives but came at high psychological costs.