It bothers me that people with HSV say they want people to be more educated about herpes, and that there is so much negative stigma about it being a fucking awful horrific condition... yet they say "it is literally eczema somewhere it isn't usually" or "its literally just spots". Maybe it's just me, but when I say I want people to be educated about HSV, I mean I want people to be educated about HSV. People shouldn't be told its horrifically harmful, and neither should they be lurred into a false sense of security of thinking its nothing at all. We all experienced the shame of first being diagnosed, and that really is something that should change. But even if that wasn't in the picture, getting herpes still sucked! It hurt like crazy and I don't think I'd wish it on anyone. But is is manageable, and it really isn't the end of the world if you do get it; it just means you get some pain every now and then, and you have to tell people. So let's stop molly coddling the situation: 1. HSV is an STI. 2. Outbreaks hurt! 3. People are insensitive. 4. You might get rejected! And equally, don't be so hard on yourself; 1. The term STI shouldn't strike fear into your heart. It's something that everyone who has sex is at risk of, you just happened to be one of the (many!) unlucky ones. 2. Outbreaks get less painful and less frequent as time goes on. 3. People are usually insensitive when they dont realise they're hurting you/when they're uneducated. You can change this! 4. For every time you get rejected, you'll probably get accepted twice. Shun stigma, promote education!