Herpes support groups

For information about the disease see Herpes simplex.

Herpes Support Groups are organized groups, some grass roots and some official nonprofit or medical groups, that provide support and information for people who have been diagnosed with genital herpes. Genital herpes is a viral disease caused by Herpes simplex viruses; both herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV–1) and herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV–2) can cause genital herpes.

History of Herpes Support Groups

Support for people with herpes arose from the work of the American Social Health Association (ASHA). The organization was created in 1914 to in response to the increase in social diseases that had spread during World War 1.

During the 1970s, there was an increase in sexually transmitted diseases. One of the diseases that increased dramatically was genital herpes. In response ASHA created the National Herpes Resource Center in 1979. The HRC was designed to meet the growing need for education and awareness about the virus. One of the project of The Herpes Resource Center (HRC) was to create a network of local support (HELP) groups. The goal of these HELP groups were to provide a safe, confidential environment where participants can get accurate information and share experiences, fears, and feelings with others who are concerned about herpes.

[cite web |url=http://www.ashastd.org/about/about_history.cfm |title=American Social Health Association ] [cite web |url=http://www.ashastd.org/herpes/herpes_comm_support.cfm |title=The Herpes Resource Center] While the HELP groups provided education and emotional support, they had limited offerings in the area of socializing or dating. The advent of the Internet came a grass movement to create online social support and dating. Groups started forming around the country on yahoogroup, meetup and other social networking sites. In addition to these informal, local groups, a number of online social networking and dating sites were created. The first of which was Antopia in 1979. In 2003, Sunshine Dates opened their doors. In addition to Antopia and Sunshine Dates there are a number of other sites that also offer forums to help individuals deal with their condition. [cite web |url=http://www.gotherpes.com/ |title=Antopia-Got Herpes] [cite web |url=http://www.h-date.com/ |title=H-Date Herpes Dating]
url=http://www.sunshinedates.com/
title=Sunshine Dates

The Stigma

A major concern for people with genital herpes, in addition to the health issues, is the social stigma attached to having the virus. Among genital herpes patients, 39% said they were troubled by societal stigma about genital herpes. Far more genital herpes patients -- 75% -- were troubled by bothersome symptoms of genital herpes outbreaks.

Most people without genital herpes said they would avoid having a relationship with someone who has genital herpes and break up with a partner who had genital herpes.

In a 2007 study, 1900 people (25% of which had herpes) ranked genital herpes second for social stigma, out of all sexually transmitted diseases (HIV took the top spot for STD stigma). [cite web |url=http://http://www.webmd.com/genital-herpes/news/20070824/genital-herpes-stigma-still-strong/ |title=Stigma Still Strong]

U.S. National Groups

The National Herpes Resource Center has a list of HELP groups nationwide and some in Canada and Australia.

Herpes A to Z offers a list of local social support groups in the U.S. [cite web |url=http://www.herpesaz.com/html/groups.html |title=Herpes A to Z]

International Groups

The International Herpes Alliance has a list of support groups world wide. [cite web |url=http://www.herpesalliance.org/support.htm |title=International Herpes Alliance]

References