Psycho-Social Response of Families and Other Significant Relationships Towards HIV/AIDS Patients: A Case Study of District Dera Ghazi Khan

Abstract

Psycho-social problems have increased to alarming numbers in patients with HIV/AIDS. This is a chronic disease prevailing across the globe. According to a recent UNAIDS published report revealing that there are 36.9 million people are living with HIV/AIDS virus around the globe (UNAIDS, 2018). In the beginning, infected person does not care the symptoms as they are ordinary in nature. The disease spreads due to the penetration of HIV virus in the human body. It destroys the human immune system and also weakens the defence of the body against the infections. It is noticed internationally that after getting this illness the patients face number of psychological and social problems. Sometime these issues over dominate the illness and further weaken the immunity of the person. The current study is fundamentally based in this regard to elaborate the hype of this problem in his community where the people are radicals and conservative. (Nordqvist, 2018). HIV patients feel some psycho-social complexities in their life. When their particular issues are identified they feel fury, loss, grief, hopelessness, helplessness syndrome, guilt, self-esteem, anxiety and depression, depressive psychic symptoms, depressive disorders, denial, anger, aggression and in some cases suicide attempts are also identified. These symptoms appear after the proper diagnosis of the disease. Proper counselling, support and assistance, psychotherapy and psychiatric support become necessary for the HIV patients apart from their medication. The objectives of the research are to find out the psycho social responses of families and their significant relations towards HIV/AIDS patients, to investigate whether the HIV/AIDS patients feel stigma while carrying their daily work at social platforms, the general improvements in psycho social status in battling the HIV/AIDS. It also suggested some important precautions to control HIV/AIDS. The locale D.G.Khan is selected due to the knowledge of the entire region, the common social tenets, local culture, language and easily accessibility to the general public. HIV/AIDS prevails in its different forms like STDs, MSM, IDUs, through Blood Transfusion, Transgender, Out-Migration sex and through disposable syringes used by the Dispensers. The researcher has used the purposive sampling because the entire research is based on qualitative research study using the detailed in-depth interviews. These interviews were conducted through the proper counselling of the patients at the „Special Clinic‟. In order to improve the quality of health care for HIV/AIDS in health clinics, it requires a multifactorial approach emphasizing patient education, improved training in behavioural change for providers, and enhanced delivery system. The current study found that the psychiatrical and social problems were more in those community groups where the people were conservative and well awared of the disease, its cause and consequences. However, these psychosocial issues were too much less in the illiterate class where the people were totally ignorant of the disease. Patients in most of the case studies are the victim of that stigma, however, this problem can be reduced if community and society work together towards improving the psychological conditions of all those patients infected and affected by HIV/ AIDS.