Sex With Dr. Jess

Courtney Brame joins Jess and Brandon to talk about sex, relationships and dating after an STI diagnosis. He shares insights on how to disclose, provides advice on sexual communication and talks about stigma, suicide and self-worth. Follow Courtney on... Twitter Instagram Check out Courtney's podcast, Something Positive for Positive People here. Jess was also interviewed about the herpes stigma recently and we’ve included the notes from the interview below. 1. Why is there a stigma around herpes? Sex is stigmatized and so all potentially negative outcomes of sex are intensely stigmatized. The unnecessary suffering that sometimes accompanies herpes is ultimately because of the stigma — not the virus itself. Herpes seems to hold a special stigma that is not proportionate to its health risk. In terms of health, most people with herpes have nothing to worry about. Outbreaks are often rare, decrease with time and can be relived and surpassed with antiviral medication. You do want to take precaution when ha