Psychological adaptation of HIV-infected and healthy people

The annual increase in the prevalence of HIV infection raises not only problems of social and medical nature but also the problem of HIV-positive peoples well-being and their psychological adaptation in the face of this critical situation. The study presented is aimed to identify the features of psychological adaptation of HIV-infected people, namely the indicators of resilience, coping behavior, life satisfaction and psychological protection depending on the observation time at the center of prevention and treatment of HIV. The study based on a survey of 75 respondents with different HIV status shows that all the indicators of psychological adaptation decrease, while social withdrawal and psychological state absorption increase. The decline of resilience leads to the actualization of non-productive coping strategies and lowers HIV-infected peoples positive self-esteem.