From stigma to self-actualization: The effect of counselling on the mental well-being of people living with HIV/AIDS in Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria

Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is still considered one of the major world’s health issues. There is still the prevalent psycho-social and emotional effects on people that are constantly living with the health challenge. Those who have tested positive to HIV still suffer stigma, discrimination, and all sorts of psychosocial problems that seem to affect their quality of life and, therefore, their ability to adhere to their treatment. In Nigeria, and in Makurdi, the Benue State capital in particular, the condition of People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) has been described as poor, with its toll on the lives of PLWHA taking a psychological, emotional, social and health status angle. HIV positive clients are not only battling stigma and discrimination from their society and loved ones, they are battling internal self-blame and self-hatred. This study, therefore, focused on measuring the effect of counselling on the mental well-being of PLWHA with respect to the five constructs of psychological adjustment: self-actualization, self-concept, self-esteem, self-efficacy and self-sufficiency. Based on Carl Rogers’ Person-Centred Theory and Albert Ellis’s Rational-Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT), the descriptive survey study sought the help of HIV-positive clients from selected hospitals and HIV counselling centres in Makurdi. The methodology used for data collection for the study was a standardized questionnaire, and the data generated were analysed with descriptive and inferential statistics at the 0.05 level of significance.

The study showed a significant increase in the level of self-concept, self-esteem, self-efficacy, and self-sufficiency among the respondents. This, therefore, indicates that counselling had an effect on the respondents as they moved from their internal self-blame and shame and the external shame and stigma they were facing in their environment, to that of self-growth, development and social re-integration. Counselling also helped to create a feeling of a safe, non-judgmental, and accepting environment in which the clients were able to restructure meaning in their life, develop a positive self-regard and work out ways of coping with daily hassles and stress. The study concludes that counselling has an important place in the psychological rehabilitation of PLWHA and recommends that counselling be made a compulsory part of HIV-care programmes in Benue State and Nigeria at large.