u/Disastrous_Ear_926

Hi Friends,

I just want to hear people's experiences on this one. Have you ever had a partner that you disclosed to after being intimate? How did the conversation go, what did you say, and how was their reaction?

(note that I am not endorsing this and understand that sometimes this can happen, we are human after all)

Open to hearing about it in the comments below or via dm- thanks!

You know what's more uncomfortable, getting an STD. Having to talk about it. Having to educate people about it. Having to tell your friends to be careful when having casual sex with people in the wild - and yet they still choose to have unprotected sex.

Hearing men say "It's uncomfortable," or "I prefer to have skin-to-skin contact." People, wear a condom every.single.time. There is no sex thing as "safe sex," but there is such thing as "safer sex," so please keep this in mind.

As someone now living with an STD thanks to someone who willingly chose not to disclose and didn't use a condom- it does suck. You will be treated and seen differently. Your life will be different. The entire thing is what caused me to ultimately write a book about it. Happy to provide a link to those that are interested.

Wearing a condom can spare you all of the above. So please, take this as your sign.

Exactly a month ago I published The Little Book of Herpes and to my surprise sexual health therapists have now started to recommend it to their clients! I never saw this coming.

While there is information and books online about living with HSV, there are a rare select few that talk about the emotional and mental aspects of living with it. We are often told "don't think about it until it comes back," and the conversation comes to an end there. This shouldn't be the case. This book is for anyone struggling with their diagnosis, has a partner with the diagnosis, or just wants to educate themselves more on the topic.

Available on Amazon in spanish as well!

This is what I'm not quite understanding. HSV is incredibly common, yet, it's something people don't want to speak about out loud, or in low whispers when barely any people are around. Part of reducing the stigma is being vocal about this! How else is it going to get any better?

I had my reservations about this when I first got diagnosed, and after publishing my book about it, I started disclosing left and right to the people in my life and not a soul has treated me differently. Now I'm speaking on panels about herpes too. Happy to share the link if anyone is interested as well.

I guess the point of this is to say nothing is going to change if we continue to treat herpes as something to be quiet, ashamed, and embarrassed about!

Hello! Not sure if this is the correct sub for this kind of request. But I am current working on my second book and wanted recs for a book cover artist/illustrator. Please drop them below or comment if thats you :)