HIV/Aids centre

HIV and the body, mind and spirit connection

If the body is sick, the mind worries and the spirit grieves; if the mind is sick, the body and spirit will suffer from its confusion; if the spirit is sick, there will be no will to care for the body or mind (J.R. Worsley).

Since the mid-1980s, researchers have looked at reasons why some people get sick and die from HIV, while others remain healthy and free of symptoms and, and what the connection is between the body, mind and spirit. Here are some specifics, based on medical research:

When you are physically healthy, all your body parts are in their proper place; they can communicate with one another. Once inside your body, the HI-virus, "hijacks" the cells that manage your immune system and slowly builds up a reservoir of virus infected but inactive cells that lie in wait until they become active at a later stage. (This latent reservoir in Memory T cells is one of the reasons why HIV cannot be completely eradicated with medicine.) Your body parts become "disconnected" and disease and a shortened life can result.

The mind or psychological health is dependent on being connected to yourself and others. The more connected you are to yourself, the more you can connect with others and the more fulfilling your connections (relationships) will be. The more relationships there are in your life, the more happiness, joy, hope, optimism and vitality you will have and the healthier and longer you will live.

The more spiritually connected you are, the closer you are to the love, energy, joy, vitality (?) and wisdom of your Creator. The goal of all religious practices is to teach us to communication with and be connection to their God.

Probably, the best way to connect to God is through prayer. Prayer is becoming a growing part of American medical schools: 79 of the 125 medical schools in the USA include courses on prayer and spirituality.

A new study reveals that prayer and regular church attendance may be related to a longer life. Researchers combined the results of 29 studies that included information about the religious habits of nearly 126,000 people. They found that people who had more religious involvement had lower mortality and increased survival rates compared with those who did not.

Another possible explanation is that religious people, who experience stress or crisis, tend to maintain a sense of meaning and hope about their lives, which helps them get through difficult and painful situations.

Our Employee Wellbeing Programme (EWP) is available 24 hours if you want to discuss how to be HIV healthy in body Call us on 0861872862 or email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .