Deconstructing the myth of HIV/AIDS : one man's story

• Main Author: Robbertse, Ilse
• Other Authors: Snyders, F.J.A.
• Format: Others
• Language: en
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: HIV/AIDS; Postmodernism; Narrative theory; South African discourse; Stigmatisation; Discrimination; Disclosure; 362.196979200968; AIDS (Disease) > South Africa; AIDS (Disease) > Social aspects > South Africa; AIDS (Disease) > Patients > South Africa > Case studies; AIDS (Disease) > Patients > Family relationships > South Africa > Case studies; AIDS (Disease) > South Africa > Psychological aspects; HIV-positive persons > South Africa > Case studies; HIV infections > Social aspects > South Africa; Discrimination > South Africa; Stigma (Social psychology) > South Africa; Narrative therapy > South Africa
• Online Access: Robbertse, Ilse (2009) Deconstructing the myth of HIV/AIDS : one man's story, University of South Africa, Pretoria, <http://hdl.handle.net/10500/3404>; http://hdl.handle.net/10500/3404

HIV/Aids is a worldwide pandemic and as South Africans we are at the epicentre of this global health crisis. The harrowing statistics are useful as a means to quantify a horrific situation; however, what these facts do not do is provide connection amidst the uncertainty surrounding the disease. This research aims to bridge the disconnection and break the silence that weaves a net around the illness and those infected by it. This is done by deconstructing one man’s story of his journey with HIV; by looking at his personal epistemology; and by contextualising his story within his family and within the society in which he lives, South Africa. Finally, it is my reflections and interpretations that form the bridge between a construct of HIV/Aids and a life lived with the disease. === Psychology === M. A. (Clinical Psychology)