Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) to Reduce Death Anxiety (Thanatophobia) in HIV/AIDS Patients

Abstract

HIV/AIDS patients have complex problems, both physical, psychological, social, and spiritual. The most common psychological problem is thanatophobia. Psychological problems that are not resolved will reduce the patient's immune system that it can accelerate the emergence of opportunistic infections. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of Cognitive Behavior Therapy on death anxiety. The design of this research is Mixed Method. The research was conducted at the Taratak Jiwa Hati Foundation, Padang City with a sample of 15 people who were taken by purposive sampling technique. Data collection techniques with deep interviews and the implementation of CBT in groups of five sessions for five weeks. Univariate data analysis is a frequency distribution. The bivariate analysis uses paired sample t-test. The results obtained are the average level of death anxiety of HIV patients before administering CBT is 9.6 and after giving CBT is 6.4 and n value. The mean difference between before and after CBT was 3.2 with a standard deviation of 3.55. The results of the statistical test showed that there was a significant difference between the level of death anxiety in HIV patients before and after CBT (p = 0.0 04). It is hoped that nurses will provide counseling to HIV AIDS patients to take CBT when there is a problem. It is suggested to the next researcher to conduct other research on how to overcome the mental problems of HIV patients

Analysis of Psychological Problems in People with HIV/AIDS

“…HIV patients will experience a decrease in their CD4 count, which is less than 200 cells/mm3, indicating that the human immune system is very weak. When the immune system is weakened, the body is unable to fight various causes of disease that can cause opportunistic infections such as weight loss, prolonged fever, enlarged lymph nodes, diarrhea, tuberculosis, fungal infections, herpes, and others (Roza et al, 2022;Sustrasno et al, 2021).…”

“…Most patients with HIV infection are young people who have no prior experience with everyday medication. Some of them are afraid to think about the inability of their immune system to fight this deadly virus, the difficulty in taking medication, and the possible side effects of taking ARVs (Aini et al, 2021;Roza et al, 2022;Muzaffar., 2022). Psychological disorders apart from being caused by physical problems can occur due to the emergence of stigma and anxiety in the community experienced by PLWHA (Defiaroza, 2018).…”