People with HSV 1-2 have to be open and honest about it.
There are OTHER people with HSV and there is SO MUCH shame and stigma surrounding it because HSV 1-2 are sexually transmitted. The idea that you cannot have a relationship ever again is nonsense. You have to be open about your carrier status. You have to either not have sex with your partner, or you have to have a partner who also has HSV.
We don't think about the OTHER forms of herpes viruses because they DON'T have stigma attached to them. Chicken Pox is a Herpes virus. It's HHV3. No stigma because it's a childhood disease. Mononucleosis, "The Kissing Disease," is HHV-4. It's a low stigma, but I was sick for months when I got it from my teenager drinking from my water bottle in my bedroom. HHV5-7 cause intestinal upset and skin redness. No stigma. HHV-8 causes Karposi's Sarcoma, a skin cancer associated with AIDS. High Stigma because of its association with AIDS.
That poor woman's profile text wasn't WTF, it was brave. It was responsible. My heart bleeds for her. Her husband didn't tell her that HE had a sexually transmitted disease. HE didn't protect her. Now SHE is left alone and she has it. She is responsible, alone with the stigma of an STD she can't be cured of. She never did anything wrong, but she has it anyway.
