Psychological distress and the positive diagnosis of a serious illness

A positive diagnosis of HIV/AIDS is as painful as any other negative life event. Its announcement is marked by psychological distress, requiring the patient to mobilize coping mechanisms to deal with it. The problem posed by this research is that of the initiation of resilience processes after the announcement of the diagnosis in HIV-positive patients. The aim of the study was to determine the influence of quality of care and idiosyncratic mechanisms on resilience processes in patients following the announcement of HIV-positive results. The study shows that idiosyncratic mechanisms reinforce resilience processes in subjects after the announcement of a positive HIV diagnosis, while the contribution of the quality of psychosocial care remains diffuse in the context of the study. Finally, social support has a very positive influence on the development of resilience in patients after the announcement of a positive HIV result.