Question
What can I do if my HIV positive father is depressed?
8 September 2016. Related: Access to treatment, Adherence, Side effects, Support.
Hello, my father is affected by hiv. He is depressed all the time. He don’t know that i also know about it. What i will do?
Answer
Hi
Without more details – age, history, type of meds etc – it is difficult to give specific information.
Depression can be common in HIV positive people but it can also be made worse by one of the HIV drugs called efavirenz. If your father is taking this medicine, then changing to a different HIV drug could make things much better.
If your father is dealing with HIV my himself, that can also make depression worse.
Without knowing your relationships, I don;t know the best ways for you to talk about this together. You could start by talking about HIV in another context – for example if there is a recent news story – or about a friend – and you could do this in a way to show your support and that you don;t judge people.
This might take time for your father to open up. Eventually if nothing works you could just ask him directly and say you know. This might not sound good – but it would overcome the barrier in a way that would then let you support each other more openly.
Good luck with whatever you decide.
This link has more information about HIV and mental health.
https://i-base.info/guides/side/mental-health
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