Getting Genital Herpes Was Upsetting at First, but There Are Worse STDs

The herpes taboo
Herpes is not curable, and nobody ever took the time to romanticize it. Nobody wants HIV, but they made a musical about it, so it has gotten a little easier to talk about. Now HIV isn't considered anybody's fault. It's just this thing that happens to people. But it seems like herpes, in the public consciousness, is something that only happens to gutter guys and disco sluts.

Three years post-diagnosis
I'm feeling better now. The situation doesn't really have to change for your attitude to change. You can screw on your head a little straighter. The bottom line is that this disease is just an inconvenience compared with other diseases out there. It's sometimes uncomfortable, but it tends to appear less and less frequently as you age. There are many meds available. If you are a conscientious person, it just reduced your dating pool by four-fifths.

It does suck. But lots of people have access to a smaller dating pool for one reason or another. Ultimately there are people in far worse situations than I am. You could definitely do worse than genital herpes. My advice to others is keep your chin up. This is by no means the end of the world. It's just a matter of perspective.