Living with HIV: Coping Strategies for Living with HIV

Your HIV diagnosis

Any change in your life can be alarming, and an unexpected chronic health diagnosis can be life-changing. Your HIV diagnosis is the start of your journey of living with HIV. 

Coping strategies for living with HIV

Cindy shares some foundational principles for creating coping strategies for living with HIV:

• Action: is everything and is crucial to your life. A thought not put into action is a dream, and you are lost to your cause before you begin your journey. We should not assume that life will automatically put a strategy in place. We need to make a decision and then action our plan by putting at least one mechanism in place if we want it to work, then follow through as it will not happen on its own. Each time I have had a roadblock jump in front of me, I come up with a new idea and put it into action.
• Setbacks: are what make you bounce back. When I have a setback, my mind says ‘huge’. A perceived setback, big or small, is a setback. We may need to step back and attack it from a different angle each time as it won’t get sorted on its own. Setbacks are challenges in disguise, recognise them and embrace the lesson as they come around more than once, so avoid fighting them.
• Versatility: in your approach to life is what gives you character. Try being open to change and flexibility, and remove yourself from a situation where you feel too comfortable or uncomfortable if you are not flourishing. Pursue something different to add spice to your health and wellness goals. Interact with other health-conscious, versatile people as it may just rub off on you and adjust how you approach your condition. A change of heart can be called an attitude adjustment, something none of us thinks we need as we become single-minded in our pursuit and forget to look at the stunning rainbow shades of colour and opportunity on the way to the place we would like to be. Fortunately, I have a very active and enquiring mind, and it is not too difficult for me to find versatility in my life. Many people find it difficult to adjust, and I suggest you attach yourself to someone who constantly looks for new ways to enhance their health. One tactic is to observe how other people accumulate and share information and become a means of versatility in applying them to your well-being. Versatility in the people you meet will add to the adaptability you instill in your personal life. 
• Results: are achievable when fulfilling requirements pertinent to you. Whether it is your health or someone else’s, you need to know what you wish to achieve. It is painful but a necessary evil to write those goals down at the start of each day, month and year. If you do not note them down, you may end up with no way to measure your achievements. Results are there for a cause as they allow you and your family to enjoy the pleasures of life, even during trying times. The ability to focus on results is not always easy, and having the visuals of your objectives is worth more than the spoken word. Create a board or paint the inside a cupboard door that you open daily. Use your clothes cupboard to write those objectives and results down as you achieve them. Soon you will find you are completing them in no time at all. The feeling of accomplishment is more than enough motivation to start your day and encourage the completion of tasks, ending in results.

Setting your goals when living with HIV

Cindy shares her guide to setting your goals when living with HIV: 

• Before you take action, set smart goals.
• Write down your action steps.
• Schedule your action steps.
• Commit to your action steps.
• Link problem situations to goal-directed actions.
• Take action in ways that feel right to you.
• Focus on the actions rather than the effects of the action.

A chronic condition can affect anyone. How you manage it is what makes the difference. You can get coverage of up to 1 million Rand for your chronic health condition and up to 10 million  if you are living with HIV, with AllLife.