Living with dying: coping with HIV disease

Abstract

People diagnosed with HIV disease experience multiple and severe stressors; however, little is known about these stressors and coping among this population. This phenomenological study was undertaken to (1) gain an understanding of the informants' lived experiences of coping with HIV disease and (2) develop a disease-specific instrument to measure stress and coping. The study involved interviews with 36 people with HIV disease. The interviews were analyzed and synthesized to (1) derive the structure of the experience through phenomenological analysis and (2) identify stress and coping themes through content analysis. Only the findings from the phenomenological analysis are reported here. The structure of the lived experience of coping with HIV disease unfolds from the initial diagnosis of being HIV-seropositive through the diagnosis of AIDS to impending death. The processes involved in this structure were labeled Living with Dying, Fighting the Sickness, and Getting Worn Out.