How are HIV and mental health linked?
Nov 29, 2009
TWENTY eight years since HIV/AIDS was first confirmed in Uganda, the disease has touched every family in the country. The disease came with misconceptions, myths and fears.
Title: Psychiatric Problems of
HIV/AIDS and their Management
in Africa
Edited by: Ssegane Musisi and
Eugene Kinyanda
Reviewed by: Joshua Kato
Available at: Leading bookshops
TWENTY eight years since HIV/AIDS was first confirmed in Uganda, the disease has touched every family in the country. The disease came with misconceptions, myths and fears.
Many people related it to witchcraft, especially in Rakai district, where it was first discovered. Although researchers have written books on the disease, fear still exists among people and a number of gaps still need to be filled.
One of the books that analyses and explains an intricate, less researched aspect of HIV/AIDS has been published.
Psychiatric Problems of HIV/AIDS and their Management in Africa is a textbook on medicine which covers complex mental health issues associated with the disease.
It was written by experienced medical practitioners and published by Fountain Publishers in conjunction with Makerere University. It was edited by Prof. Ssegane Musisi, head of the department of psychiatry, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University and Dr. Eugene Kinyanda, a research manager at the Uganda Virus Research Institute, Entebbe.
The book deals with recognition, management and implications of mental health problems related to HIV/AIDS. To all health workers engaged in the field of HIV/AIDS, this is a very vital textbook that should be kept close for reference.
For all intents, the mental health aspect of HIV/AIDS scares many, especially those taking care of people living with HIV. It is common for the community to say: “That one is mad,†in reference to an HIV-positive person.
Besides, the caretakers are also not sure of how to handle them. The book deals with facts on HIV and AIDS, the signs and symptoms of mental illness, personality and other psychobehavioural factors which may lead to risk behaviour hence high HIV infection.
It also explores acute or immediate emotional and behavioural reactions
on discovery that one is infected with HIV. It tackles HIV-related psychiatric disorders, mental health problems in children and adolescent orphans, the elderly HIVpositive persons and women as a vulnerable group and the mediolegal issues, mental health policy and service delivery.
The book is divided into seven sections, each of them putting particular emphasis on understanding the facts and myths about the mental health of HIV/AIDS patients.
Section one is an introduction to the disease. Written by Elly Katabira, Ssegane Musisi and Eugene Kinyanda, the section gives facts and figures about HIV/AIDS in Africa, risk behaviour in HIV/AIDS and signs and symptoms of mental illness.
It explains the likely mental health problems at various stages of the disease. For example, on learning that one is infected, they degenerate into acute stress, adjustment disorders, panic disorders, delirium, mania and sometimes attempt suicide.
These states occur between the first and second years of the infection. During the second year, which is also referred to as the symptomatic phase, the person becomes depressed.
They can even start abusing substances in an attempt to run away from their depression, anxiety disorders, personality changes and suicide. If you have taken care of an HIVinfected person, you have noticed some of the features.
But how have you countered them? In most cases, people have condemned the sick as being ‘unappreciative’ of the caretaker’s efforts. “The essential feature of anxiety is the difficulty to control apprehension and worry, coupled with muscular tension and automatic arousal — sweating, shaking, heavy breathing, increased heartbeat, choking...†the book explains. It also recommends handling and managing of these features.
From three to 15 years, dementia sets in, delirium, psychosis, mania, more depression, seizures and HIV associated progressive
encephalopathy. As long as the care takers learn about these features, they will manage them positively.
Each of the psychiatric disorders is
explained in detail and finally tips on how health workers can manage these disorders are given. However, the editors point out that there are still areas like palliative care (care given to terminally ill to ease pain) in an African setting and other HIV/AIDS related aspects that still need to be addressed.
HIV/AIDS and their Management
in Africa
Edited by: Ssegane Musisi and
Eugene Kinyanda
Reviewed by: Joshua Kato
Available at: Leading bookshops
TWENTY eight years since HIV/AIDS was first confirmed in Uganda, the disease has touched every family in the country. The disease came with misconceptions, myths and fears.
Many people related it to witchcraft, especially in Rakai district, where it was first discovered. Although researchers have written books on the disease, fear still exists among people and a number of gaps still need to be filled.
One of the books that analyses and explains an intricate, less researched aspect of HIV/AIDS has been published.
Psychiatric Problems of HIV/AIDS and their Management in Africa is a textbook on medicine which covers complex mental health issues associated with the disease.
It was written by experienced medical practitioners and published by Fountain Publishers in conjunction with Makerere University. It was edited by Prof. Ssegane Musisi, head of the department of psychiatry, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University and Dr. Eugene Kinyanda, a research manager at the Uganda Virus Research Institute, Entebbe.
The book deals with recognition, management and implications of mental health problems related to HIV/AIDS. To all health workers engaged in the field of HIV/AIDS, this is a very vital textbook that should be kept close for reference.
For all intents, the mental health aspect of HIV/AIDS scares many, especially those taking care of people living with HIV. It is common for the community to say: “That one is mad,†in reference to an HIV-positive person.
Besides, the caretakers are also not sure of how to handle them. The book deals with facts on HIV and AIDS, the signs and symptoms of mental illness, personality and other psychobehavioural factors which may lead to risk behaviour hence high HIV infection.
It also explores acute or immediate emotional and behavioural reactions
on discovery that one is infected with HIV. It tackles HIV-related psychiatric disorders, mental health problems in children and adolescent orphans, the elderly HIVpositive persons and women as a vulnerable group and the mediolegal issues, mental health policy and service delivery.
The book is divided into seven sections, each of them putting particular emphasis on understanding the facts and myths about the mental health of HIV/AIDS patients.
Section one is an introduction to the disease. Written by Elly Katabira, Ssegane Musisi and Eugene Kinyanda, the section gives facts and figures about HIV/AIDS in Africa, risk behaviour in HIV/AIDS and signs and symptoms of mental illness.
It explains the likely mental health problems at various stages of the disease. For example, on learning that one is infected, they degenerate into acute stress, adjustment disorders, panic disorders, delirium, mania and sometimes attempt suicide.
These states occur between the first and second years of the infection. During the second year, which is also referred to as the symptomatic phase, the person becomes depressed.
They can even start abusing substances in an attempt to run away from their depression, anxiety disorders, personality changes and suicide. If you have taken care of an HIVinfected person, you have noticed some of the features.
But how have you countered them? In most cases, people have condemned the sick as being ‘unappreciative’ of the caretaker’s efforts. “The essential feature of anxiety is the difficulty to control apprehension and worry, coupled with muscular tension and automatic arousal — sweating, shaking, heavy breathing, increased heartbeat, choking...†the book explains. It also recommends handling and managing of these features.
From three to 15 years, dementia sets in, delirium, psychosis, mania, more depression, seizures and HIV associated progressive
encephalopathy. As long as the care takers learn about these features, they will manage them positively.
Each of the psychiatric disorders is
explained in detail and finally tips on how health workers can manage these disorders are given. However, the editors point out that there are still areas like palliative care (care given to terminally ill to ease pain) in an African setting and other HIV/AIDS related aspects that still need to be addressed.