Silent endurance and profound loneliness: socioemotional suffering in African Americans living with HIV in the rural south.
We explored how community responses to HIV contribute to distress in African Americans living with HIV in the rural South of the United States. We listened to the voices of community members through focus groups and African Americans with HIV through interviews. Community avoidance of HIV, negative views of HIV, and discriminatory behavior powerfully affected the distress of people living with HIV (PLWH). Ongoing distress, coupled with limited support, led to a life in which many PLWH endured their pain in silence and experienced profound loneliness. We conceptualized their experiences as socioemotional suffering--the hidden emotional burden and inner distress of not only living with HIV, a complex serious illness, but also with the societal attitudes and behaviors that are imposed on the illness and on PLWH. To improve the quality of life and health of PLWH, we cannot focus solely on the individual, but must also focus on the local community and society as a whole.
School of Nursing, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7460, USA. mmiles@email.unc.edu
Margaret Shandor
MS
Miles
Malika Roman
MR
Isler
Bahby B
BB
Banks
Sohini
S
Sengupta
Giselle
G
Corbie-Smith
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D000368:Aged; D055812:Community-Based Participatory Research; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011287:Prejudice; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012934:Social Isolation / Q000523:psychology*; D012944:Social Support; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology