Plans to Hasten Death Among gay men with HIV/AIDS: Relationship to Psychological Adjustment

This study assessed the prevalence & nature of thoughts & future plans to end one’s life in a group of gay men with HIV/AIDS over an 18-month period. 167 HIV-positive men participated in a series of clinical interviews. A small number of HIV-positive men (17%) reported serious thoughts or plans to end their lives at some point in the future which were stable over an 18-month period. No differences in psychiatric or medical measures were observed among men with & without thoughts/plans at either assessment point. In the absence of current psychiatric disorders, such thoughts or plans about the future may represent one way to maintain control & independence in the face of the uncertainty of life with HIV illness. (30 refs.)