Fatalism

Abstract

Fatalism is a perspective that views the outcome of events as uncontrollable and unchangeable by an individual; it is the belief in destiny. Fate is seen as the determinant of one’s life course. In the health care setting, fatalism refers to the idea that human beings cannot prevent the emergence of an illness or manage its treatment in order to eliminate it; it is associated with pessimistic and passive attitudes regarding the prevention, treatment, and the disease itself. In the context of HIV/AIDS, fatalism represents a barrier to prevention, influences people’s attitudes, and may increase the likelihood that they will engage in high risk behaviors, thus increasing their vulnerability to infection due to their rejection of interventional measures. Fatalism is linked to a lack of knowledge and understanding about the disease and can have a devastating effect on the management of HIV/AIDS patients. In communities where denialism plays also an important role, interventional efforts towards better control of the disease are harder to implement.