Psychological theory of coping in dating and personal life

Even though she has to live with the illness for the rest of her life, Miss X has found some ways to raise her spirits, to be punctual about taking her medications and live a healthy life, with friends, a husband and in the future, possibly have a child (No Going Back. There Is Only Forward). Miss X illustrates the psychological theory of coping in her dating and personal life. In psychology, the term ‘coping’ means investing one’s conscious efforts to address personal and interpersonal problems. The goal of coping is to reduce and tolerate stress. , how she contracted HIV, how her treatment decisions affect her health) Miss X volunteered to be part of the Peace Corps in Africa and bring help to a people in a part of the world afflicted by poverty and famine.

Miss X got posted to a rural village in the Zambia, where she was supposed to teach and help the people there on ways of improving their lives, among which, how to avoid HIV/AIDS. As one of the few white women among a predominantly black male population, Miss X attracted men’s attention, who not only flirted with her but also wanted to sleep with her (No Going Back. There Is Only Forward). Moreover, as a white woman from America, Miss X must have felt honored by the attention she received. As Miss X was resisting his advances, the guy gave him her bracelet, and this act of kindness made Miss X relent to having sex with him (No Going Back.

There Is Only Forward). They used condoms, and the following morning, Miss X did not feel guilty because she felt that if other people engaged in casual sex, she too could do it. Seventeen days later, Miss X fell ill and went to the hospital. All her symptoms pointed to malaria, which was sensible as the area she lived in had a prevalence of malaria. Moreover, this was even more shocking for Miss X because she had only had sex with the guy, and they used condoms. Furthermore, she did not have any sores in her mouth that could have resulted in the transmission of the virus through the oral sex that she gave the guy twice. How her illness affects her behavior/ thoughts/ feelings After accepting that she was living with HIV, Miss X did week-long research to find out what the best medications were.

One way in which Miss X was lucky is that she found out in less than a moth that she was HIV positive, meaning that the drug could help prevent the spread of the virus or give her a high viral load. After consulting with her doctors, she settled on Atripla, which at the time was the best drug. The reality that she was living with HIV hit Miss X when she had to go to the pharmacy to collect medication. It was something she had discussed with her therapist, who told her that she would feel the reality that Miss X had HIV once she started getting drug refills. Until that time, Miss X could not see or touch the viruses living within her body (No Going Back.

There Is Only Forward). However, when she had to purchase drugs to control those viruses and take the pills every night before going to bed, it made the mental impression in her mind that she would live with the condition for the rest of her life. It took Miss X a long time to disclose her HIV status on dating websites, and she even feared that if her fellow employees knew about it, they would gossip and avoid her. At times Miss X was on dates, she feared to tell her partner about her HIV status because of the likelihood that the date would leave or would cancel the relationship (No Going Back. There Is Only Forward). Concealing information about her condition made her feel guilty because she felt that she was putting the other person at risk.

In one instance, she went as far as kissing her date, who was oblivious that she was HIV positive. At one point, she decided to tell one workmate and allow him/her to tell the others about her state (No Going Back. There Is Only Forward). She no longer cared whether people gossiped about her or not. Thoughts Miss X started thinking about other people’s welfare. Unlike the guy who transmitted HIV to Miss X, she felt that other people did not deserve to sleep with her without knowing her HIV status. She writes on her blog that they had protected sex and that the only other thing she did was give the guy oral sex. There is a possibility that she acquired the illness orally, maybe through a sore or injury in her mouth.

However, Miss X states that she did not have sores. Even though she accepts that she has to live with HIV for the remaining time of her life, Miss X still cannot explain how she got the illness (No Going Back. There Is Only Forward). On one of her birthdays, she went out to dance. She also attended a friend’s wedding, and recently, organized and had a wedding of her own (No Going Back. There Is Only Forward). Society places a lot of stigma on HIV patients, and to some extent, this affects even the most resilient patients who have high self-esteem (Brown 27). Miss X found ways to bolster her spirits and enjoy the remaining time of her life with friends and loved ones.

When Miss X returned to work, she noticed that the side effects Atripla had on her made it hard for her to work. Consequently, she started researching and consulting doctors until she settled on Stribild. Conclusion In conclusion, the case study on Miss X gives a lot of information on how a young woman, accidentally infected with HIV, lives her life and addresses the challenges associated with her status. She had high self-esteem and a high self-efficacy that enabled her to not only fight the stigma associated with HIV but also share a story through her blog, giving her readers updates about her treatment choices, her dating life, the stories others share with her and her aspirations for the future (Damasio 33).