Social support mitigates HIV-related depression

HIV/AIDS and depression are two illnesses of public health importance; both causing significant public health burden across the globe (World Health Organization [WHO], 2012a, 2012b). People of all age groups, genders, and socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds may experience depression, and about 350 million people are affected by depression worldwide (WHO, 2012a). HIV continues to spread despite global concerted public health efforts to prevent the disease with about 34 million peoplereported to be affected by HIV by 2011; 2.5 million of them were newly affected (WHO, 2012b). People living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) also experience mental health illness, including depression, more than the general population (Elbirt et al., 2012; Selvaraj,Ross, Unnikrishnan, & Hegde, 2013