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Twelve millions of French suffer from herpes, of which 7 millions of labial herpes or "button of fever." If the medical consequences of this affection are the most often benign, his psychological reverberation can be important to the point to disrupt the sexual, social or professional life. The herpes generates a sense of shame and of depreciation. A quarter of people concerned feel dirty. A felt aggravated by a bad knowledge of the illness. The herpes generates a sense of shame... The button of herpes is unaesthetic and very bothersome. He often has important repercussions on the life of the patients. "In the domestic life, the button of fever is the stigma of an illness. In the reports in love, the lesion forbids the kiss. In society, he embarrasses and disadvantage. From then on, one understands why the unceasing recidivisms can be psychologically" exhausting explains the Dr Jean-Marc Bohbot, infectiologue to the institute Ovenbird (Paris). The herpes is discerned again too much like an ashamed and dirty illness. The words that come back the most often about the labial herpes are eloquent: salt, repulsive, rotten. "I sometimes have the impression to be treated like a leper" explains a young man who testifies on a forum. In a society where the appearance is fundamental, the herpes can be felt like a real social handicap that decreases the odds to succeed in society. Often, people affected by herpes tend to adopt a behavior of loop line with regard to their near, their family and their partner. Herpes: the fold on oneself... Among some patients, the psychological disruption bound to the herpes results in feelings of discontent (disgust, anger, stress) bound to the impression not to be able to master the situations of stress at the origin of the herpetic thrust, a sensation of control loss constituting a factor of fully-fledged stress and a difficult interior distress to accept by the setting that only keeps the benign character of the illness.
Besides, this illness leads an impression of transparency: the herpes acts indeed like a real "scorer" of stress, fatigue or unbalance. Thus, the button of fever unveils an interior state that one préfèrerait to hide to the other. The herpes also pushes to an overestimate of the looks and the negative judgments. "As soon as one feels carrier of a stigmatization, one tends to multiply by 2 the number of people that seems to have marked us. One amplifies the gravity of the judgments of this look naturally. One thinks that people find it disgusting, rotten and depreciating" explains the Dr Christophe André, psychiatrist to the hospital Holy-Anne (Paris). Who adds "in the extreme cases, some patients think that the other go less to like them or to respect them." Herpes: an uneasiness bound to an ignorance of the illness More of the half of the topics affected by herpes don't consult a physician. In reason: an insufficient knowledge of the illness, the fear to be judged, the ignorance of the available treatments. For those that don't want to cut themselves of the social life and leisures, some solutions exist, active of the measures of hygiene to the treatments. In case of frequent crises, the physician can propose a preventive treatment that is going to decrease the frequency of these.
It is necessary to inform the whole population as better. Many heard to speak of the herpes but don't know what it is precisely. "When one cannot heal an illness, it is necessary to all to tempt to reduce his impact on the individual so much one point of physical view that psychological. The development of information and the communication on the oro-facial herpes by the general public appear like a crucial element in order to improve the hold in charge of this pathology" exposes the Dr Jean-Marc Bohbot. Only these information will permit to diminish these infections so frequent. And to those that suffer some from to live more serenely.
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