Identity, Representations, and Beliefs: HIV Controllers Living on the Frontier of Good Health and Illness.

Some people living with HIV spontaneously control the virus without antiretroviral treatment. They are called HIV controllers, and their status places them at the limits of bio-clinical normality. The objective of this study was to investigate HIV controllers' beliefs and representations of their individual trajectories using a qualitative approach. Fourteen HIV controllers were interviewed. Vertical analysis focused on examining how interviewees' specific beliefs and representational processes help these patients adapt to their particular situation. Horizontal analysis focused on how patients' biographic trajectories and identity positioning help them make sense of their situation. Results highlighted that perceiving oneself to be healthy or ill was linked to change or a lack of change in terms of disease perception, beliefs, and representations, when seropositivity was announced. This study of social representations and the processes involved provide crucial elements for health professionals caring for HIV controllers.