He held his breath and froze, thinking someone had broken in to rob them. But the sound was not real. It was yet another hallucination.
Villan, 45, was taking efavirenz, an HIV treatment linked to side effects like abnormal dreams, suicidal ideation and insomnia. His anxiety and paranoia had become so severe that he regularly had panic attacks and lucid dreams.
In an interview, he told Al Jazeera the symptoms plunged him into a deep depression.
“I told my doctor, ‘Look, I’m not going to continue with a treatment that’s making me feel bad,’” he said. “I’m depressed. I have suicidal thoughts.”
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