Abstract. – Despite the progress in developing antiretroviral (ARV) drugs that prolong the life of many individuals with HIV infection, many people living with AIDS (PLWAs) are still unable to access intensive health care due to certain cultural forces. The fear of stigmatization, a social reaction to HIV/AIDS, leadsIbibio PLWAs to self-rejection and self-denial. This in turn leads to self-medication and secrecy of care in AIDS. PLWAs also lose both the support of the community and that of health care institutions. All these constitute the risks against PLWAs’ health. Through an ethnographic study conducted in Uyo and Itu Local Government Areas (LGAS) of Akwa Ibom state in South-South Nigeria, coping mechanisms in response to HIV/AIDS were examined. The study also examines the people’s actions towards certain HIV/AIDS-related behaviours. The study argues that anxiety and depression have combined effects in creating the stigmatatached to PLWAs. This in turn leads to self-rejection and self-denial expressed in form of a health myth created around preternatural forces as agents of disease. This situation leads to higher rates of morbidity and mortality due to HIV/AIDS among the Ibibio. [Nigeria, Ibibio, HIV/AIDS, self-denial, self-rejection, stigmatization]