Social Support Research Paper

THE ROLE OF SOCIAL SUPPORT IN COPING WITH HIV/AIDS

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a chronic disease of the human immune system. An HIV/AIDS diagnosis has been linked in several cases to increased rates of depression (Mizuno, Purcell, Dawson-Rose, Parsons & The SUDIS Team, 2003) and to a decrease in the quality of life of one diagnosed with the disease if they fail to find a proper coping mechanism. This essay will mainly focus on the perspectives of social support and how they can affect the way an individual copes with such a diagnosis and how the surrounding environment also assists with the adaptation. Coping is essential to help individuals deal with the debilitating effects
associated with the disease which may cause drastic changes in their lifestyle. Social support is considered as one of the important aspects of coping with an HIV/AIDS diagnosis but the scope to which it affects it varies in accordance to a number of factors such as gender, race, social class and, in some cases, household types. This essay will also look at the negative impacts that social support may have on the quality of life of an individual.

Social support, according to Green (1993) is the existence of social relationships, their functional content, that is, if they are informational, psychological or emotional and their effect.
Social support can be obtained from either professional care givers or from loved ones, family and friends. For people who are experiencing stressful life events or might have a chronic illness social support has been identified as a key coping resource. Informational social support helps inform the patient on more information with regards to the disease and how they can adapt to this without having to undergo drastic changes. Emotional support is offering empathy, love and showing concern showing concern when someone is distressed and is finding it difficult to cope with the disease. Psychological support is very much similar with emotional support in the sense that it helps one deal with it in a way that would help them retain mental
stability.

The diagnosis of HIV/AIDS comes in association with stress factors which impact both the individual affected and the community they live in. According to Mizuno et al(2003) studies have shown increased rates of depression among people with HIV and these depressive symptoms are associated with substantial physical morbidity and disability as well as mental suffering. Due to the nature of the disease, that is, there has not yet been a cure that has been discovered the disease is accompanied with the existential fear of death from both parties. In most cases it is also accompanied by a variety of social changes such as the loss of employment and stigmatisation from family and friends. Coping with the stressors associated with a chronic illness almost always takes place in a social environment in which one is forced to interact with other people in this community ( Schreurs & de Ridder, 1997). According to (Mundell, Visser, Makin, Kershaw, Forsyth, Jeffery & Sikkema,2011) these stressors negatively affect an individual’s well-being and also directly compromise the immune system leading to an accelerated disease progression resulting in depressive symptoms in most cases. Often an individual’s health and psychological well-being are impacted on by the social structures surrounding them. Having a strong social support network seems to be beneficial, in most cases to individuals. When studying the role of social support, it is necessary to look at it with the needs of an HIV/AIDS patient in mind.

Friedland, Renwick and McColl (1996) performed a study investigating the effect of social support on the quality of life and as a coping mechanism after an HIV/AIDS diagnosis. One of their key observations was that social support has the potential to influence health outcomes in a variety of situations, which may be referred to as the main effect hypothesis. They also observed that social support works to protect people at times of stress because it buffers the adverse conditions that come with an illness of such a nature, which is the buffering hypothesis. The buffering hypothesis of social support suggests that social support is a means of buffering the negative health outcomes that come about as a result of the specific stressors that are associated with the stress of a certain illness, that is this social support works to protect people at times of stress (Cohen and Wills, as cited in Friedland et al, 1996). Mizuno et al (2003) performed a study which focused on the correlates of depression and chronic illnesses which seemed to be in support of the notion that social support does actually have a buffering effect to people who are infected with HIV/AIDS. However their study went on to prove that social support does not buffer all the negative effects associated with chronic illness but instead it sometimes has a negative effect. Scheurs and De Ridder (1997) observed that negative reactions from care givers may arise as a result of the patient feeling too distressed. If a patient exhibits signs of being too distressed and is struggling to cope this would in turn make the care giver feel helpless and they will end up with drawing .

Social support does prove to be beneficial to most people who are infected with chronic diseases but how much social support an individual gets hinges in a variety of factors some of which include gender, race, social status and in some cases sexuality. In some of these cases being diagnosed with HIV/AIDS might already worsen the situation in a social setting. Kowaleski (1988, as cited in Green, 1993) highlighted the double stigma that accompanied the diagnosis. During a certain period of time HIV was believed to infect homosexuals and drug users and the diagnosis of the disease would the force individuals to undergo emotional isolation and sometimes geographical isolation from their communities.

Overall social support has been shown to contribute positively to the psychological well-being and health of someone who has been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS but as far as the current knowledge of the role of social support in coping with a chronic illness still needs to be bulked up.
Social support can be an important tool in designing interventions to help co[e with the disease. Tailoring coping assessments at progressive stages of the infection which makes it possible to know which type of social support would be most beneficial to the individual and the care givers. Social support must also be offered to close family members as well, Schreurs and De Ridder (1997)noted that when one gets diagnosed with a chronic disorder it might affect the close relationships one has with other people because of the separation anxiety that accompanies the diagnosis. This anxiety would then worsen the situation on the individual who has the disease. Another aspect which needs more attention is in depth analysis of the negative effects that social support has and how it affects everyone involved, that is, the patient, the patients close family and friends and the care
givers.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Friedland, J., Renwick, R., & McColl, M. (1996). Coping and social support as determinants of the quality of life in HIV/AIDS. AIDS Care,. 8(1), 15 – 31.
Green, G. (1993) Editorial review: social support and HIV. AIDS Care,. 5 (1), 87-101.
Mizuno, Y., Purcell, D., Dawson-Rose, C., Parsons, J. & The SUDIS Team. (2003). Correlates of depressive symptoms among HIV positive injecton drug users: the role of social support. AIDS Care,. 15 (5). 689 – 698.
Mundell, J., Visser, M., Makin, J., Kershaw, T., Forsyth, B., Jeffery, B., & Sikkema, K. (2011). The Impact of Structured Support Groups for Pregnant South African Women Recently Diagnosed HIV positive. Women and Health,. 51 (6), 546- 565.
Scheurs, K., & De Ridder, D. (1997) Integration of Coping and Social Support Perspectives: Implications for The Study of Adaptation to Chronic Diseases. Clinical Psychology Review,. 17 (1), 89-112.