LALIT BERRY

Ludhiana, Dec.2 :  HIV/AIDS awareness day was celebrated  by Manas Hospital Ludhiana under the guidance of Dr. Anshul Mahajan Consultant psychiatrist of Ludhiana. On the occasion Dr. Mahajan told that since the advent of Anti-Retro-Viral Treatment Therapy, HIV can be successful controlled and it significantly increased the life span of the patient however there is still a psychiatric/ psychological another aspect of this disease which is yet need to be addressed.

He told that a patient with HIV/AIDS harbored lot of misconceptions about this disease which changes his cognition and representations about this illness. It causes anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, isolation, alcohol or drug consumption which further add the complications in treatment. Stigma attached HIV/AIDS prevent the victim to live normally into the society thus a patient found devoid himself from various social and family privileges such as marriage, job, education etc. He further elaborated that during advanced stage of AIDS some neurological signs may appears such as memory loss, psychosis, impulsivity, motor control and change in personality.

Dr. Mahajan explained that world wide 1st Dec is celebrated as a HIV/AIDS awareness day so that a general public must be aware about the authentic information about this disease along with its causes, preventions and available support system. He added that by lifting the misconceptions in society, HIV/AIDS person can be brought into the normal society and he can live a respectful life.