The Three Stages Of The Disease

The medical community has divided the life of the AIDS disease into three stages. These stages are artificial divisions. As the AIDS virus spreads through the body, it causes more and more destruction.

Stage 1. HIV Positive (Human Immunode Deficiency Virus)

The person has the HIV virus in the body. Doctors do not classify this person as having AIDS.
The diagnosis 'AIDS' is used to describe the final stage of the disease. There are rarely any symptoms of illness when a person first has the virus in his body. The HIV begins to destroy the immune system. This is often a slow process. The HIV virus can directly affect the brain and central nervous system, causing mental distortions. HIV is a lentivirus with a lengthy incubation period.

The virus can be present in a person for ten years before it results in the death of that person.

Stage 2. ARC-AIDS Related Complex.

At this stage the HIV virus has begun to affect the health of the person. Typical symptoms include swollen glands, fever, weight loss, or persistent diarrhoea. Usually these are not life threatening illnesses. However, some die at this stage, but are not counted as dying of AIDS.

Stage 3. AIDS

AIDS describes the final stage of infection with HIV virus. Sometimes this is described as 'fullblown AIDS'. Most die within two or three years of reaching this stage. People are diagnosed as having AIDS when they have contracted certain types of diseases including: cancer, pneumonia and other diseases.

A Strategy For Change

What can you do to be of benefit to your community? With consideration to the two areas of infection, we need not only to help and support the individuals in crisis but also be part of a community education program challenging the fear, stigma and alienation associated with the particular issue.

We all recognise the success of the 'Slip, Slop, Slap,' campaign run by the Anti Cancer Foundation. It was successful because it educated people, and primarily the next generation, to the perils of sun exposure and the need for UV protection. The campaign has been further reinforced by school policy throughout the nation endorsing the wearing of protective clothing and sun screens.

I think it is also vital for us to understand right here that not everyone facing crisis will want your help, they may choose to remain in their denial because they are not prepared to change their lifestyle.

What Can You Do?

• Work on a prevention education program
• An ounce of prevention is better than a ton of cure. Understand the causal, contributing and risk factors associated with your chosen field
• Explore your communities facilities for assisting those at risk
• Explore available training in crisis intervention
• Be part of an active and mobilised group caring for people in your target subculture
• Be part of a brain-storming process that develops programs past traditional limitations.
• High school suicide education is a much debated area. Dr. Michael Carr-Gregg, of the Education and Training Centre for Adolescent Health at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne, says that exposing secondary school students to information about suicide directly runs the risk of schools inadvertently normalising and glamorising suicide....Schools should be aware of the potential for litigation if students subsequently attempt to harm themselves. Surely responsible schools should err on the side of caution. (Age 9.5.98, p. 10)

Where Do Attitudes Come From?

By Adrian Beale

Attitudes are the basis of what we say, do and even how we listen to other people. They are acquired as discussed under How are Attitudes Developed. However, the foundation of attitude acquisition has as it's core - relationship. Everyone needs strong relationship - unconditional love - in the form of acceptance, belonging and open communication.

It is from this base that a person gets a true sense of who they are (identity). If there is a decided lack of interaction or a distorted perspective communicated from an early age, then worth and esteem (identity) problems may arise.

Identity is the springboard for our goals and aspirations(destiny). Once we accept who we are, recognising our personality predispositions, gifts and talents we are more readily able to set sail for tomorrow. Ever wondered what was behind profanity and swearing, a teen's inability to listen, or behaviour that has gone right out of shape?

Then, consider that an attitude lies beneath the surface behaviour, forming it's foundation. When we say and mean things that are good and healthful the attitude behind such communication is healthy. When behaviour is obnoxious you can see that the attitude behind it is unhealthy as well.

The key to changing attitude lies in understanding and appreciating it's sub-foundation. Beneath attitude lies this inter-linked sub-foundation that is the basis of the attitude in question. When behaviour is negative you can be sure that relationship is hurtful, identity is threatened and destiny is possibly in some way blocked.

One method to change behaviour acknowledges the need to change attitude and this is done indirectly through changing the nature of the relationship, which changes identity, which changes destiny, which in turn changes attitude and finally the undesired behaviour.