June 5 is the First National Long Term HIV Survivors Day

From: EDGE

Tez Anderson wants long-term survivors to begin looking to the future
 (Source:Courtesy Tez Anderson)

In 1983, while he was still in his 20s, Tez Anderson found out that he was HIV-positive. Although doctors told him he only had two years to live, somewhere along the way he turned 50. Faced with the prospect of a future he hadn't planned for, Anderson fell into a deep depression. When he finally realized that he wasn't the only one dealing with "AIDS Survivor Syndrome," he started Long Term HIV Survivors Day, the first of which will be held on June 5. 

"What I hear most is that I’m not the only one," said Anderson. "I thought I was going crazy, and was ashamed of it. But once I began talking about my experience, I realized I was on to something."

Anderson’s downward spiral came with depression, insomnia and a lot of anger. He was online planning out his suicide when he discovered that his symptoms were a lot like PTSD. He called it AIDS Survivor Syndrome (ASS), and soon, many other long-term survivors began sharing similar stories. 

"Part of my breakdown was that I was such an asshole about it, I had alienated all of my friends," said Anderson. He called up a few that he had worked with in ACT Up years before, and they helped him throw a Town Hall event in San Francisco last September. 

"I invited those we knew to talk about their experiences," said Anderson, "and 200 people showed up. It was like they were at a revival! There were a lot of people who were HIV-positive, but also many who were HIV-negative, who were dealing with the trauma of losing all of our friends and lovers for two decades. The first 20 years of AIDS were devastating to our community, and you didn’t have to be positive to experience that loss and repeated grief."

Anderson kept throwing events, including a public poll, programming, a social, meditation, weekend retreats and four more Town Hall events. He witnessed people like him, transformed by the knowledge that they weren't alone in this. 

"A large percentage of my cohorts were very isolated, very much angry, and then quiet. They became recluses," said Anderson. "Some of these people were scared to come to the big events, so they came to our Saturday morning coffee, where there are only about a dozen people. They might not say anything at first, but soon, they are ready to come to a Town Hall, and then to volunteer, and then to come out of their shell. A substantial number of people participated, and experienced a lessening of their symptoms."

Anderson created a website for the event and last month, filed paperwork to make the organization a non-profit. And now, he is calling for others across the country to come together and plan their own Long-Term survivors day, under the theme of "We’re Still Here."

"I encourage people to do what’s appropriate for their community," said Anderson. "The first-ever national Long Term Survivors Day is planned for June 5, because this was the date in 1981 that the Morbidity and Mortality report was released that first noted HIV. We chose that day as the day that AIDS awareness began." 

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