Interview 05  

Interview 05

Age at Interview: 52
Sex: Male
Age at Diagnosis: 42
Background: A retired gay health professional with a grown child, who was diagnosed in 1995. At one stage in 2000, he did not want to go on living, and took an overdose.

Brief outline:His current T cells are 600 and he is not on anti-HIV medication. He is happy to be alive now, does voluntary work (non-HIV) and training courses. (Video and audio clips read by an actor.)

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Following on from his adoption he struggles to cope with the loss of people in his life. (Read by an actor.)

 



Ah yeah, well that is something I've never been able to come to terms with. People [pause]… there might be something in my psyche that pushes people away; this is an individual thing. It's got nothing to do with anybody else, you know, but I have never been able to cope with the fact that people leave you, people who are supposed to be close and special, and role models, all sorts of things. 

The first one, of course, was my own mother. Although I don't really… it's not, it's not high on my agenda really, I don't think, think about it or anything, I do get a little bit upset when people are talking about their families, and I've got no real family as such to talk about. 

[sigh] I get a little bit sort of, I show a little bit of angst when a doctor says, 'Is there any diabetes or anything in your family?' and I get a little bit aggressive sometimes and I think, 'No, no, well of course not, I'm fucking adopted' you know, so there is no… there is no particular roots there, there's nothing that I can fall back on, nothing I can look at, I've got no past. That is a problem. Although I, you know, it's not, it's not, it's not a big problem in my life, it used to be.

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