On June 27th, SAMHSA recognizes National HIV Testing Day with a simple message: take back your health by knowing your HIV status. HIV testing is easy, empowering, and an important part of personal health. Knowing your status helps you make informed choices: people who test negative can learn about prevention options, and people who test positive can be connected to HIV care and treatment.
There’s also an important connection between HIV and behavioral health. If you’re receiving treatment for substance use disorder (SUD), serious mental illness (SMI), or co-occurring disorders (COD), knowing your HIV status is critical for long-term health and recovery. In 2024, over 38,000 people ages 13 and older received an HIV diagnosis in the United States. Of those diagnoses, 6 percent were attributed to injection drug use. However, among people who inject drugs, 19 percent reported using a syringe that had been used by someone else and only 48 percent reported receiving an HIV test in the past 12 months.
People may also need behavioral health treatment after an HIV diagnosis. Among adults diagnosed with HIV, 17 percent reported experiencing symptoms of depression in the past year, and 16 percent experienced symptoms of moderate to severe anxiety. Fifty percent reported non-injection drug use, and 16 percent also reported binge drinking in the past 30 days.
Behavioral health providers have a role to play in making it easier for people to get tested. Treatment settings that serve people with SUD, SMI, and COD are important places to make HIV testing more accessible, support conversations about prevention, and connect people to appropriate HIV care and behavioral health services. SAMHSA encourages behavioral health providers, community partners, and recovery support service organizations to help make HIV testing routine, low-barrier, and connected to care. Integrating HIV testing within SUD, SMI, and COD treatment settings is a vital part of the national HIV response and helps ensure that people know their HIV status, have access to prevention or treatment, and can stay healthy.
If you or someone you know needs HIV testing or behavioral health support, visit CDC’s GetTested website to find HIV testing services near you, and SAMHSA’s FindTreatment.gov to connect with mental health or substance use treatment and recovery support services. If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, call or text 988 or visit SAMHSA’s 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
