ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author considers that, although Covid-19 and HIV/AIDS are very different illnesses associated with different phenomena and psychological patterns, there are deep levels where parallels can be found – e.g. our relationship to illness and death, the way panic or avoidance reveal themselves, and personal, cultural and political evaluations as well. He recognizes that he has come to consider his fear of death very seriously in his work on AIDS, and he did so also in his Jungian training and personal analysis. The author discusses the political and communicative chaos that appeared in the first month of the epidemic, linking it to different cultural and psychological interpretations. Ultimately, he wishes to return to a basic ground of existential awareness around this crisis, which is also, unavoidably, a space for change.
