Surviving Two Diseases: Addiction, Recovery, and Spirituality among Mothers Living with HIV Disease

Abstract

Drawing upon narratives spoken by mothers living with HIV/AIDS, this article describes the role of recovery in helping many women survive the two “diseases” of HIV infection and addiction. The theme of surviving two diseases emerged from secondary qualitative analysis of narratives contained in focus group transcripts. Originally convened to address questions involving life experience and support services, the focus group discussions revealed the importance of recovery, spirituality, positive thinking, inner strength, and social support in helping many women cope with the complexity of living with two highly stigmatized conditions. Secondary analysis provided the opportunity to more closely examine the relevance of recovery principles to ending addiction and strengthening women's feelings of self-efficacy and support.