With the increasing rate of people becoming infected with HIV/AIDS, it is crucial to be aware of the importance of developing management strategies to help these patients. It is evident that it is necessary to provide social support from friends, family and the community at large to help these people infected with the disease. However, it should also be noted that social support may not always be helpful for people living with HIV/AIDS. We will explore both the good and bad aspects of social support and discuss the stigma associated with the disease. In most cases, however, social support is viewed positively and actually benefits the person living with HIV/AIDS. Furthermore, the effects of social support will never be the same or effective as another due to the unpredictable nature and stages of the disease. The stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS is one of the main reasons why people living with the disease do not seek social support. HIV/AIDS is seen as the disease that mainly deals with risky sexual behavior such as prostitution, gay men and drug addicts. This stigma makes it difficult for people with the disease to accept the fact that they are HIV positive and also makes it more difficult to fight the epidemic globally (Avert.org, 2014). This adds to the list of numerous stressors that arise once a person becomes infected with HIV/AIDS. Some of the stressors that these people living with HIV/AIDS may face are the diagnosis itself, unemployment, relationship breakdowns, ongoing treatment, and illnesses that are related to the disease. It is therefore important that these sufferers have a chain of support. Each link would provide a different type of support: emotional, informational, and instrumental. Social...... half of the document ......6). Coping and social support as determinants of quality of life in HIV/AIDS care, 8, 15-31. Green, G. (1993). Editorial review: Social support and HIV. AIDS Care, 5 (1), pp. 87--104.Leserman, J., Jackson, E.D., Petitto, J.M., Golden, R.N., Silva, S.G., Perkins, D.O., Cai, J., Folds, J.D. & Evans, D.L. (1999). Progression to AIDS: The effects of stress, depressive symptoms, and social support. Psychosomatic Medicine, 61 (3), pp. 397-406.Mizuno, Y., Purcell, D.W., Dawson-Rose, C., Parsons, J.T. & Team (2003). Correlates of depressive symptoms among HIV-positive injection drug users: The role of social support. AIDS Care, 15 (5), pp. 689-698. Schreurs, K. M. G. & De Ridder, D. T. D. (1997). Integrating coping and social support perspectives: Implications for the study of adaptation to chronic illness. Clinical Psychology Review, 17(1), pp. 89-112.