The Issues of HIV Stigma Facing HIV Positive Gay Men & How They Cope through the Mechanisms of Resilience: A Qualitative Phenomenological Transcendental Stud

Men who have sex with men are at a heightened risk for contracting HIV. 70% of all HIV infections consist of gay men or men who have sex with men. HIV stigma is a worldwide problem that results in very negative challenges on both physical and psychological levels. Resilience is seen as a mitigating factor to lessen the negative challenges of HIV stigma. The present study utilized a qualitative, phenomenological, transcendental study to develop a deeper understanding of the lived experiences of gay men regarding resilience mechanisms they use to cope with HIV stigma and the impact of these mechanisms used to manage HIV stigma. 12 gay HIV positive men participated and were asked open ended interview questions to illicit rich responses of their lived experiences both with stigma and the mechanisms they used to cope with and manage HIV stigma. Ages ranged from 33--61 and years with HIV disease ranged from 6 to 31 years. Analyses of the data included both manual coding and the qualitative computer assisted software known as NVIVO for complementary analysis. Results indicated that all the negative challenges in HIV stigma themes seen in the study were corroborated in previous research. Coping mechanisms of a strong support system, education, and chronic illness not death emerged. The impact of these mechanisms showed that self-care, where you live, keeping busy, struggles brought strength, and spirituality/God/prayer assisted in managing HIV stigma. The study contributes to the multidimensional theory of resilience and in practice, the ability to develop programs to mitigate HIV stigma. Future research points to replicating the study in various geographical areas with similar and different HIV populations.