I Don't Know Who I Am : Severely Mental Ill Latina WSW Navigating Differentness

S. Loue, N. Mendez

We examine interviews from a qualitative study designed to examine HIV perceptions, risk, and risk management among Puerto Rican women who have sex with women (WSW) and who also have been diagnosed with major depression, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia. These women's stories challenge both the lesbian and the Latino communities to reexamine how and why they claim individuals as their own and they similarly challenge professional communities, including HIV educators, health researchers, and medical care providers, to develop effective HIV prevention programs and counseling approaches that facilitate patient/client self-disclosure and consider cultural and contextual barriers to both self-disclosure and the provision of services.[Copies are available from: Haworth Document Delivery Center. The Haworth Press, Inc., 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY 13904-1580, USA]