HIV and Mental Health: An Overview of Research from India



HIV and Mental Health: An Overview of Research from India

Introduction

This article provides a growing body of evidence which links mental health to HIV/AIDS in the people of India. People with mental ill health, including those with untreated mental illnesses such as depression tend to have problems with judgment, impulsive behavior, reducing the fear of the consequences, and increased vulnerability to external influences, and as a result are more likely to engage in risk behaviors for HIV. The interactions between drugs and alcohol and depression are common, often leading to reduced concern for personal safety. This has important implications for HIV prevention, but limited, relevant research has been conducted in India and elsewhere.

Mentally Ill Are More at Risk

There is a growing proof of HIV and high-risk behavior among the psychiatric or mental patients. Research has been done in India which identifies the relation between HIV and mental health. The prevalence of HIV has been reported as 1.7 percent among psychiatric inpatients. The predominant risk behavior among psychiatric patients in India is unprotected heterosexual intercourse, which reflects the common mode of transmission in the country. The risk behavior ranges from 26% in men and 11% in women has been reported in the history of the country.

Psychiatric Comorbidities in HIV

Cognitive Deficits: The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is neurotropic virus that infects the brain from the early stages of the disease. The cognitive impairment associated with AIDS may occur at any point along the course of the disease. Its detection in the early stages can be difficult, so subtle manifestations, evolution slow, and it includes the same neuropsychological deficits nonspecific logical effects that are seen in other after-psychiatric disorders. In many cases, the appearance of these small functional changes which alert the possibility of rapid change, still occult disease.

Multiple studies using different neuropsychological, psycho physiological and cognitive indicators evoked potentials which have reported various cognitive functional disorders, even in asymptomatic HIV-positive. However, there is still no marker which is sufficiently sensitive for early detection, characterization, reliable prediction and possible developments of this type of damage to the nervous system. In the present study, a group of neurologically asymptomatic patients were studied with the aim of contributing to the characterization of these deficits. The neuropsychological study showed widespread involvement of the cognitive functions in the group of patients (Chandra 1999, 320).

Psychosis: The HIV virus can be trigger for mental illness in many ways. This is a neurotropic virus that damages the nerve cells of the infected person. HIV infection was detected, the outbreak of the disease at least delayed by a combination of antiviral drugs being administered. This so-called highly active antiretroviral therapy may also provide the onset of mental illness.

A psychotic disorder describes the mental state of a patient suffering from delusions or hallucinations pronounced. Primary psychotic disorder arises independently of the HIV infection. These are, for example, schizophrenia or schizoaffective psychosis. They are linked with hallucinations and disorganized ...