Living with HIV

It wasn't until I became positive that I began to realize exactly how misunderstood, scorned, berated, and flat out attacked at times poz people can be treated.

The stigma is so bad that when people hear HIV they immediately freak out and treat the person like their a leper or something.

They don't see the person for who they are or who they can be all they see is the disease. Even when you show proof that an undetectable viral load means that it is untransmittable they still treat you like you're a pariah.

Being positive is bad enough but on top of that, we have to deal with the depression, the anxiety, and the scornful and hurtful remarks by others.

I've noticed a lot that since I've became positive, even though I've been undetectable for a very long time now that people still see me as the disease.

What people need to do is instead of jumping to conclusions freaking out verbally, mentally, and sometimes physically attacking HIV positive people is they need to educate themselves and become less ignorant about facts.

We're just another person with a chronic illness that is treatable. We're just like anybody else, we laugh we cry we go to work and we live our lives as best as we can.

But if more people educate themselves about HIV then maybe just maybe we all could get along a lot better. This is something that's been weighing on my mind for quite a long time, and it is hard to deal with emotionally and mentally. I just really really wish somebody would see me for who I am and not just that I'm positive.