[advice] male diagnosed with herpes. Completely devastated. Need advice from those who have been there PLEASE

It sucks man. I get it. I went into a pretty depressed state feeling worthless and like my world was over, that I'd rather just give up and be single forever. It's embarassing to think about because of the whole stigma, but when I got it, and at the time knew one of my ex girlfriends and good friends (who didn't give it to me, just talked to her for advice), talked to her about it, she said it had been a blessing in disguise. You will find out quickly who is worth your time dating if they give a bad reaction when you tell them. Somehow, I got lucky in that a girl/co worker I had liked for a long time eventually we got closer, was the first one I told, and right from from the beginning. She said she didn't care at all and that she cared for me so it didn't matter. We've been together for 6 months and we take steps to try and avoid passing it to her but for the most part now she doesn't even give a shit. It is a blessing in disguise, you will find out who's worth your time. It's going to be hard at first to come to terms with it, and realize it's not the worst thing to happen. After awhile the breakouts should lesson too. Ive only had one this year in May, and I think I've had it for about 1-2 years. First few sucked ass, but they should slowly lesson or even become non existant. Trust me man, it's not over. When you accept what you have, however long it takes, that it's not really that bad, go back to your normal life of dating as you would. Instead of looking for random sex (don't know your intentions for being single), Take a girl out on 4-5 dates, really get to know them and be confident they're a good person. Then tell them. If they bail or give a bad response, fuck em. If they are hesitant, don't worry about that, give them time, it's not a bad reaction, good people can be worried too. If they say I don't give a shit, then you know they know it's not a big deal and you've found someone who likes you for you. Good luck, and trust me, it's not even close to the end of dating. Only the beginning in my eyes.

/r/sex Thread