Humans of Scotland

“There are times when it can be overwhelming.”

“I quickly learned that I prefer to think about other people than wallow. I didn’t realise it at the time, but it was a form of therapy.”

"Everyone living with HIV is a human being and deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.“

"The idea of blame, guilt, and shame which I think is what has driven a lot of people within the HIV community to have poor mental health."

"A lot of my job was teaching others about the reality of HIV, as well as caring for people and families who were impacted by HIV."

"HIV is not just something from the past. We are still living with it, and we are still being stigmatised."

"A positive status doesn’t mean it’s the end of your world. I’m 25 years positive and still kicking!”

"That's my favourite part about my job - seeing people develop themselves, learn new skills, thrive and benefit from support of their peers"

"It’s been a long road, and I’m not nearly at the end of it yet."

"If you want to know the truth about living with HIV, you need to ask someone who has HIV."

"HIV is just a tiny part of who someone is."

"It's our duty to talk frankly and responsibly about sex."

"It's the mental side of HIV that's more difficult that the physical."

"There is hope, there is support, you are not on your own and you will thrive and not just survive living with HIV."

"If only those people could see things now, they wouldn't believe it, that HIV is an illness that people just carry on with."

"I was so busy dealing with the physical side of HIV, just trying to survive, that dealing with the mental and emotional aspect came later"

"I quickly realised that I wanted to be an advocate for others to ensure that no one was treated the same way I was."

Treatments got better, the horizons kept getting brighter so I slowly started to realise I could live a normal life and start to make plans.

"It opened me up to meeting so many amazing people and learning so much about humans."

"There are so many lives lost, we can't forget the ones who went before us."

“It feels like they are saying my son’s life ends when he leaves school...James deserves better."

"It's important for there to be more people out there that look like me, being positive role models and showing others they can do it too."

“Getting my life experience, it was hard, but now I can help others and that is a special thing. It helps me as much as it helps them.”

"If I can help one person, then that's great. My week is done, if I can do that."

"If you have met one person with a disability, then you have met one person with a disability."