The epidemic that took the world to a different level of dread and paranoia 25-30 years ago is now more or less understood by the general populace, with the advent of awareness campaigns and the production of antiretroviral that has helped prolong the life of HIV positive individuals.
While the number of HIV-infected people have gone down over the years, and massive information campaigns have been carried out all over the world to curb the spread of the cure-less disease, figures have shown that HIV-AIDs are more prevalent in mentally-ill people.
The team from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Penn Medicine examined national data from 21,785 adults from the National Health Interview Survey in 2007, and found that people with mental disorders, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, have a higher rate of HIV infection than the rest of the national population.
Fifteen per cent of the 21,785 adults stated they have a psychiatric disorder. The team of researchers discovered that mentally ill people are more likely to test positive for HIV as the findings revealed that among the studied profiles, 48.5 per cent people of those with at least one mental disorder had been tested HIV, compared to the 35 per cent testing rate among people without mental disorders.
Out of those 15 per cent, 89 per cent showed symptoms of anxiety or/and depression, 2.6 per cent had schizophrenia spectrum disorder and 8.5 per cent had bipolar disorder. The study showed that 47 per cent of individuals who were suffering from anxiety or/and depression, 63 per cent from bipolar disorder, and 64 per cent from schizophrenia have been tested for HIV.
Associate professor in psychiatry at Penn and co-director of the Penn Mental Health AIDS Research Center Michael B. Blank said: "Our study shows that persons with mental illness and/or their care providers recognize that they are at higher risk and should be tested. However, by no means we should be complacent since these results may in large part be due to individual vigilance. The fact is there are few formal prevention and screening efforts targeted at this at-risk population. In light of the fact that mentally ill people are more likely to engage in risky behavior, mental health providers should consider routinely offering HIV/AIDS testing, something that does not typically occur now."
The correlation between mental health and HIV-infection is not so surprising as those with mental disorders are more likely to engage in risky behavior, which they may not be able to control, making them at high risk for HIV and other sexually-transmitted diseases. Risky practices that are often associated with HIV transmission are sexual intercourse with multiple partners, intervenous drug use, and unprotected sex.
