Life Before and After a Herpes Diagnosis: How to Rebuild Confidence and Move Forward
After being diagnosed with herpes, it’s easier to see your life in “before” and “after.” (Thanks stigma🙄)
Before your diagnosis, you might’ve felt like you were ready to follow your dreams, embrace your wild heart, and go after what you really wanted in life!
But after your diagnosis (slide 2), it’s not uncommon for those inner critics to creep in:
“Who will love me?”
“I just want to be normal again…”
“I feel disgusting.”
“I can’t focus on anything good anymore.”
“What if they reject me?”
“What if I give them herpes?”
“I don’t deserve love.”
These thoughts can feel so overwhelming that they start to drown out the truths you’ve known about yourself for so long. It’s easy to feel stuck, hopeless, and yearning for your “old” self.
The good news is that you’re still in there—stigma has just swooped in for a moment in time. A herpes diagnosis doesn’t change who you are..
If you were strong, you’re still strong.
If you were confident, you can still get back to that belief.
If you were the best teacher, dancer, auntie, mom—whoever— this diagnosis doesn’t change that.
You’re still who you are at your core, you just have some stigma to sort through. With education, understanding, and a lot of kindness toward yourself, you can get back to you.
The overwhelming voices and doubts begin to fade (slide 3) and you’ll remember who you’ve always been 🫶🏻