Two for one, drug addiction and HIV. Yesterday I conducted a group at a rehabilitation center, where out of 8 participants, 5 had HIV infection. The guys were not willing to talk about it and were ashamed of their diagnosis. It’s surprising that many of them have had the infection for many years, but they talk about it as if the infection happened yesterday. They are skeptical about supportive immune therapy; some do not accept the help of doctors and specialists from HIV centers at all. Two people present in the group are undergoing rehabilitation again, because... the previous rehabilitation center did not help them. Despite the fact that they were already in rehabilitation, no rethinking of the acquisition of infection occurred. And this is not the first time I see this. One gets the feeling that in most rehabilitation centers, specialists do not carry out the necessary work to accompany HIV-infected people. Indeed, this is practically not taught anywhere, except in cooperation with the HIV center. Addiction, like HIV, each individually is an almost invincible opponent to fight alone. And when they get down to business together, the person becomes completely ill. This post is aimed more at people with HIV infection than at specialists in rehabilitation centers, so next I will describe recommendations on what not to do if you find out that you have HIV and what to do. 1. You should absolutely not close yourself off and alienate yourself from friends and loved ones. This mistake is made by almost everyone who finds out about their infection. When alone, the risk of developing depression and its unfavorable course increases. And there are fewer resources to withstand the grief that has piled up. 2. Many people give up on themselves and go to great lengths. They start using drugs and alcohol or use more than ever, infect others, leave their jobs and families, take out loans with no intention of paying them back, etc. Yes, some of them die, but there are also those who stop and look with horror at the ashes of their lives. Many people bite their elbows: “Why didn’t I stop earlier? How can I sort it all out now?” Therefore, no matter how difficult it may be, it is important to gather all your will into a fist and ask for help, instead of creating even more problems for yourself. 3. Another common mistake is a kind of meditation on the fantasy “no one needs me now, “I won’t succeed,” etc. It happens that a person opens up to his loved ones, but despite their support and all possible help, he still considers “life is finite, and there is no point in even trying to do something.” One young man once told me “my mother wants too much from me... I can’t get support from her.” When I asked how this manifests itself, he replied “she says that I should not give up, that I will succeed, and that if I want to have children, I can start a family... and who needs me?” Like many others, he could not recover from the injury and allow it. your mind to hear the wise words of your mother. The antidote to meditation “nobody needs me, life is decaying” is the help of specialists, theoretical literacy about HIV infection, and focus on solving the problem and not on the problem itself. 4. disbelief in HIV”, “ignoring the problem”, sooner or later such a permissive attitude towards one’s health will backfire with serious problems. 5. Underestimating one’s experiences and “emotional problems” related to HIV. Some people who have learned about such a discouraging diagnosis continue to live as if nothing had happened, convincing themselves that the infection did not particularly upset them. No matter how a person thinks about a problem, the emotional background changes. People become irritable, often more distracted, conflicted, and slowly slip into depression. They do not understand the reason for these experiences, while the reason is in the unconscious feeling of grief. The combination of addictions with HIV infection leads to another problem - the large-scale spread of HIV. Addicts won’t let you lie; when you use, you only think about using and don’t care about anything else, especially