"Positive emotions are possible even with stress of chronic health problems   Men using positive emotion skills learned to cope with their stress while control group went on antidepressants   Findings extend to dementia caregivers women with metastatic breast cancer CHICAGO  When individuals recently diagnosed with HIV were coached to practice skills to help them experience positive emotions the result was less HIV in their blood and lower antidepressant use reports a new Northwestern Medicine study.  Even in the midst of this stressful experience of testing positive for HIV coaching people to feel happy calm and satisfied  what we call positive affect  appears to influence important health outcomes said lead author Judith Moskowitz professor of medical social sciences and director of research at the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.  This is believed to be the first test of a positive emotion intervention in people newly diagnosed with HIV. Based on the study results the intervention is promising for people in the initial stages of adjustment to any serious chronic illness.  The paper was published recently in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.  The HIV study is part of a larger body of positive affect research being conducted by Moskowitz. She also is studying the health effects of teaching the skills to individuals with type  diabetes women with metastatic breast cancer and caregivers of dementia patients.  For the HIV study which was based in San Francisco  participants primarily men were taught a set of eight skills over five weekly sessions to help them experience more positive emotions. Another  participants were in the control group.  Moskowitz and colleagues designed the tools based on evidence showing these particular skills increase positive emotions. Some of the skills included   Recognizing a positive event each day   Savoring that positive event and logging it in a journal or telling someone about it   Starting a daily gratitude journal   Listing a personal strength each day and noting how you used this strength recently   Setting an attainable goal each day and noting your progress   Reporting a relatively minor stressor each day then listing ways in which the event can be positively reappraised. This can lead to increased positive affect in the face of stress   Understanding small acts of kindness can have a big impact on positive emotion and practicing a small act of kindness each day   Practicing mindfulness with a daily minute breathing exercise concentrating on the breath  Fifteen months after the interventions  percent of the intervention group had a suppressed viral load compared to  percent of the control group. In addition to the potential benefit of a lower viral load on the infected person there may be public health benefits.  From a public health perspective that is potentially huge for prevention of HIV Moskowitz said. HIV is less likely to be transmitted with a low viral load. To have a difference like that is amazing. The reduced viral load could be because of a stronger immune system Moskowitz said. Observational studies in people living with HIV have shown positive emotion is related to a higher CD count an indicator of less HIVrelated damage to the immune system. Or the reduced viral load may be the result of participants better adherence to their antiretroviral drug therapy which generally leads to a suppressed or undetectable viral load Moskowitz said.  The positive emotion intervention also improved mental health. At baseline about  percent of the control group and intervention group reported being on antidepressants. Fifteen month later the intervention group was still at  percent but the control groups antidepressant use rose to  percent.  The group that learned coping skills did not increase antidepressant use whereas overall the control group increased its antidepressant use Moskowitz said. In addition the intervention group was significantly less likely to have repeating intrusive thoughts about HIV.   Other Northwestern authors include Elaine O. Cheung Lizet Martinez and Eisuke Segawa.  The research was supported by grants R MH and K MH from the National Institute of Mental Health and grant P AI from the Third Coast Center for AIDS Research all of the National Institutes of Health.  More News at Northwestern Now"