Regaining a Valued Self: The Process of Adaptation to Living with Genital Herpes

Abstract

This study describes the experience of young adults' adaptation to living with the chronic sexually transmitted disease genital herpes. Interview data from 70 adults with a diagnosis of genital herpes were analyzed using constant comparative analysis. Findings from the study indicated that the process of adaptation to living with genital herpes involves regaining a valued sense of self. The process occurs in three stages. In the first stage, young adults strive to protect themselves from devaluation due to the stigmatization connected with the disease. In the second stage, they try to renew their sense of self by reaching out and balancing their lives. In the third stage, they adopt a management style that enables them to preserve their sense of self Implications for further research and for practice are suggested.

Sexual Health, HIV, and Sexually Transmitted Infections among Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men Who Have Sex with Men in the United States

“…Infection with HIV or viral STIs can have life-long effects on a person's ability to establish and maintain relationships because of the challenges of disclosing HIV/STI status to potential sex partners and of preventing HIV/STI transmission to others. Infection presents many other life challenges, such as managing medications and the effects of recurring symptoms, and coping with stigma and discrimination [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25].…”

Sexually Transmitted Infections

“…Research on the disclosure of having an STI has focused primarily on how individuals disclose their STI (Lee & Craft, 2002;Swanson & Chenitz, 1993) and their reasons for disclosure or non-disclosure (Green et al, 2003;Keller, von Sadovszky, Pankratz, & Hermsen, 2000;Lee & Craft, 2002). To date, there has been limited systematic research on whether factors influencing disclosure or non-disclosure of one's STI status differ according to whether a partner is a casual partner or a regular partner.…”

Damaged goods: women managing the stigma of STDs

“…These studies have drawn on social psychological theories of the self that o er insights on components of coping with various illDamaged Goods : Women Managing the Stigma of STDs 97 nesses. Pioneers in researching the connection between selfconception and sexual health, Swanson and Chenitz (1993) used qualitative methods to examine the relationship between herpes infections and a ''valued'' self. Although these researchers theorized a three-stage model of regaining a valued sense of self after a herpes diagnosis, the ndings of this study indicate a more complex process.…”