World Aids Day Blog: People with HIV didn’t get to reach 20-year anniversaries, I thought This month marks 20 years since my HIV+ diagnosis. On World Aids Day, Paul Wickson writes about living with HIV, they talk about their diagnosis, feelings at the time, and where they are now. This month marks 20 years since my HIV+ diagnosis. If you’d told me in 2005 I’d be here writing this, I’d have laughed. People with HIV didn’t get to reach 20-year anniversaries, I thought. It also happens to be about 40 years of living with clinical depression, quite the theme party. A bit about me: I’m 53, use they/them pronouns, and now describe myself as queer and a-spec. Growing up under Section 28 and the HIV panic of the 80s and 90s, I never imagined getting past 30, let alone becoming a fully paid-up middle-aged homeowner with cats, caffeine addiction and a fiancé. My diagnosis came after I fell seriously ill in November 2005. I ended up at Kings College London with suspected kidney failure. A junior doctor told me the initial HIV test was a “false positive”, only for the confirmed result the next day to be, well, positive. I was right at the beginning of sero-conversion. Not exactly the plot twist I’d hoped for. I didn’t handle it well. My mental health was already in pieces, and I shut down completely. Growing up with terrifying public health ads, homophobic media and a sense of doom around HIV meant the diagnosis felt like the final straw. Ironically, I was too physically unwell to do anything drastic. Also, in a very “me” twist, I was mostly horrified that coffee suddenly tasted like ashes. Thankfully that did resolve, small mercies. One thing that kept me going were the brilliant staff at Kings. The counselling for newly diagnosed patients was the only therapy I’ve ever found genuinely helpful, and every clinic since, London, Cornwall, now Bristol, has been fantastic. I know not everyone gets that level of care, and I’m deeply aware of that privilege. I didn’t start treatment until 2010. Back then the approach was to wait until the virus began damaging the immune system, so every clinic visit felt like waiting to hear “it’s time”. Every cold felt ominous. Finally starting medication was both a relief and, thanks to the cultural baggage around HIV, a bit like starting a countdown. How wrong I was. These days I take one pill a day, my viral load has been undetectable for years, and my health is solid, apart from my questionable love affair with caffeine and my ongoing failure to eat vegetables. The reality now is that people on effective treatment live long, full lives. But stigma lingers. Too many people still see HIV only through the lens of the 80s, still think it only affects certain groups, still believe it is life-limiting. And too many around the world face barriers to proper care and support. So… hi. I’m Paul. I’m 53, queer, a-spec, agender or non-binary, a sci-fi and fantasy nerd, a trade unionist, a homeowner, a partner, a person with great cats and questionable life choices. And I’m a person living with HIV. It doesn’t define me, but it is part of me, and here’s to 20 years of living with it, and many more to come. Posted on Source: https://southwest.unison.org.uk/blogs/2025/12/world-aids-day-blog-people-with-hiv-didnt-get-to-reach-20-year-anniversaries-i-thought/