Mortal Secrets

Robert Klitzman, M.D., is an assistant professor in the department of psychiatry and is codirector of the Center for Bioethics at Columbia University. He is the author of The Trembling Mountain: A Personal Account of Kuru, Cannibals and Mad Cow Disease (2001), In a House of Dreams and Glass: Becoming a Psychiatrist (1996), Being Positive: The Lives of Men and Women with HIV (1997), and A Year-long Night: Tales of a Medical Internship (1989).Ronald Bayer, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Sociomedical Sciences at Columbia University's School of Public Health. He is the author of AIDS Doctors: Voices from the Epidemic(2000), and Private Acts, Social Consequences: AIDS and the Politics of Public Health (1989).

An engaging consideration of the competing and sometime contradictory values that influence disclosure decisions in the lives of HIV-positive adults... [and] a stimulating and deeply satisfying discussion of the tensions inherent in disclosure stories. -- Robert Kertzner, M.D. American Journal of Psychiatry An in-depth look at the motivations, beliefs, and practices of those who must decide to get tested and if positive, whether or not to disclose, and when... Mortal Secrets delivers a powerful message using the voices of those most affected. -- Lisa K. Waldner, Ph.D. Journal of the American Medical Association Nonjudgmental... Readers may find themselves with newly gained compassion and understanding for the dilemma of when and how to disclose HIV status. -- Marla J.Gold, MD Annals of Internal Medicine This is an interesting book that social workers need to read so as to understand their clients concerns. A recommended book for all academic libraries. AIDS Book Review Journal Klitzman and Bayer provide an engaging consideration of the competing and sometimes contradictory values that influence disclosure decisions in the lives of HIV-positive adults. Focus: A Guide to AIDS Research and Counseling 2004 It is an aim that succeeds to an extraordinary degree... So well thought-out is this study, and so well presented are the accounts of the participants, that I put the book down with a real-and rare-sense that my understanding had grown and my thinking about the ethics of HIV-in particular the responsibilities of those infected-had shifted... The examples given here put such bald statements into a new context, and make the social and cultural factors that shape the pandemic seem vivid and emotionally real. Such vividness serves powerfully to enhance understanding. -- Tamsin Wilton Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry 2004 This is a very interesting and thought-provoking book, which utilizes, but also moves beyond, the interview data in order to address broader debates around complex issues of sexuality and morality. -- Elaine Denny New Genetics and Society 2004 A useful resource for both clinicians and laypersons, and I recommend it as a highly accessible and expertly written book. International Review of Psychiatry 2005 Mortal Secrets is a book for anyone desiring to move forward in the fight against the illness, not the people. -- Erica Prigg Health Communication 2008

• Contents:Introduction Secrets, Lies, and Private Life1. Getting Tested Uncovering the Truth 2. Sexual Partners Sex, Love, and Disclosure 3. Secrets and "Secret Secrets" | Disclosure in Families 4. Disclosure in Other Worlds Friends, Co-Workers, and Going Public 5. Dangerous Acts 6. Making Moral JudgmentsConclusion Secrets in Public Life