My partner was recently diagnosed with HIV. He is not on antiretrovirals yet and is becoming more and more depressed. I am trying to be strong and supportive, but I don't know what to do to help him.
you should tell him that you will never get tired of supporting and helping him. but only tell him that if you truly mean it. what you can do best is educate yourself about hiv and its treatment , you can find it all over the internet. tell him also that having hiv isnt the worst thing that could possibly happen to you. hiv these days can be controlled with treatment. treatment will be difficult at the start but it will most definitely help you live longer and make your immune system stronger. being depressed will not do any good to him, however, depression is somehow common in people living with hiv, but just make sure that he has a good support system and is able to develop good coping mechanism to help him get thru it. there are a lot of people even young ones who have it. i myself am diagnosed for over a year now and only two of my bestfriends know about it, but i do my best to overcome depression. its tough but theres no other way but to accept it and to help yourself go through the treatment process. soon enough it wont bother him as much.