Suicide Attempt in a Recently Diagnosed HIV Positive Subject: Is Pre and Post Counseling Still Being Adequately Practiced? Case Report

Abstract

Suicide and attempted suicide are recognized neuropsychiatric complications of HIV/AIDS and one of the risk factors is recent notification of seropositivity. A case of attempted suicide in a recently diagnosed HIV positive subject without adequate counseling is reported. Subject presented at a government hospital with symptoms of recurrent vaginal discharge. She was not adequately counseled on the need to undertake HIV screening which she was asked to do. The result came out positive and she received the result with disbelief, shock and sad feeling, consequently she attempted suicide on two occasions. The subject was managed and subsequently referred to AIDS relief centre of St Gerard Catholic Hospital, Kaduna for disease confirmation and comanagement. Subject revealed that the counseling was not properly handled before and after the test. Therefore the need for adequate pre and post test counseling, an integral part of HIV/AIDS management should not be ignored as its importance cannot be overemphasized

Key Words: Suicide Attempt, HIV/AIDS, Pre and Post test Counseling.