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Depressed over sexual orientation confusion and gender thoughts

User Profile: MT1991
MT1991 April 10th, 2018

I am a 26 year old guy who has had severe depression, anxiety and seemingly a near mental collapse since mid-January. This all began over something so stupid that it's laughable. I am a guy with a lot of weird kinks, and fetishes, many of them are rooted in strange themes of dominance and submission/humiliation. One of those is gender bending kink, where I would have sexual fantasies of myself as a woman (and usually with some ridiculous humiliating twist on that, like a dumb "bimbo", or a fat girl). I feel some of these kinks was me fetishing my own lack of self-esteem with the humiliation kinks and frustrations with the dominant ones towards women, which is a dark thought in itself. I would sometimes go to chat rooms on Discord app relating to these fetishes, and in one of these rooms, a user told me I only envied women. That comment seemed to trigger a psychological breakdown for me. Shortly after that, I noticed I wasn't getting aroused like I used to anymore and was also incredibly depressed. Everything just became bleak and unenjoyable. Prior to this, I already had low confidence with women, and in general, although it was improving some.

For years I have wanted a girlfriend and better social life in general, but it's difficult as I have Aspergers and am socially awkward often, cannot think of much to say usually, worried I will come off creepy, petrified of rejection, have a kind of emotionless robotic tone when talking which some find odd, think I am not interesting enough, etc. Family and peers used to add to this by pestering me about never managing to get a girlfriend, and comparing me to guys my sister dated, always acting like said guys were somehow better than me. Over the years, my confidence had gotten so low where I think every other guy had more to offer than me when it came to women, resulting in me not even trying at times. This lack of confidence spread to other areas, too, such as me thinking I am not good enough to get into grad school, for example.

As for the sexuality thing, I am worried I have somehow turned gay or am trans due to one of those kinks, and my reduced desire for women, despite me being not being attracted to males at all, or having no desire to live as a woman and being madly attracted to women physically and emotionally since my teens. This whole ordeal has completely destroyed the little bit of confidence I did have, and made me feel like I have lost my identity. Despite my frustrations with love, and socially, I have always wanted to one day have a wife, raise a family and just live a peaceful life as a dad and husband with a wonderful woman. I am crying now at thought of that never happening, it tears my soul apart. I have always been a family orientated, loyal person, and that has been something I have thought of doing since childhood. I have even had nightmares about it. On the topic of sleep, I barely sleep at all anymore at night, have a poor appetite, and nothing feels fun anymore. I am at the lowest point of my entire life, and all I feel is a sense of hopelessness with everything. This hurts even more because, despite my lack of confidence, before this began, it was slowly improving, I was getting the confidence to finally approach women, and starting to be more social, and finally seeing myself in a bit of a more positive light than before. It just hurts so much that everything I was working towards is gone, and how everything I enjoyed no longer makes me happy. I just go through the motions now. I don't feel I am living, but merely existing. I apologize if this sounds weird, but this is making me incredibly depressed.

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User Profile: TaranWanderer
TaranWanderer April 10th, 2018

@MT1991 Hey there! I wanted to say that this doesn't sound weird at all, and thank you for opening up and sharing your story heart I'm sorry that this confusion has been so hard for you, it certainly sounds difficult to handle on top of everything else you were already feeling. Here were my thoughts as I was reading through:

Most immediately, I don't think fantasies usually indicate much about someone's gender or sexuality. If you /are/ attracted to women, you don't feel attraction to men, then I don't see why you would be gay. (even if your feelings towards women have been less lately, I mean, a drop in libido just means that you probably have other stresses in your life that are impacting that, not that your actual attraction has changed, you know?). And fantasies about being a woman don't necessarily mean you're trans either, especially if outside those fantasies, you have no desire to live as a woman. There's nothing wrong with gender play in intimate settings, and they don't always mean anything about your actual gender identity outside of that setting.

As for the 'envy women' comment, I think it doesn't matter much if was true or not. I mean, you obviously have an attraction to women, and fetishes can take any form that don't always mean anything outside of that. If you do envy women, does that mean you suddenly can't /also/ be attracted to them? Or like to have fantasies about being them without it meaning more? I don't think so. I mean, if anything, "envy" could take the form of "the desire to be like them/have what they have" even in just the fantasy sense. So, whether or not you envy women, I don't think it really has an impact on who you are, what you like, or things like that.

I'm not sure why your family would compare you to your sister's boyfriends, that's just not fair. You're YOU, not them. And you shouldn't be them. It doesn't mean your any less than they are, it just means your a different person. That was honestly so rude of them and you didn't deserve it at all!

Now about your relationships: it can be hard to find someone who is a good match for us, especially when we're not the best in social situations...but you know, there could be someone just like you out there looking for someone like you, or someone out there who absolutely loves the kind of demeaner you have. There's just so many people out in the world with so many different likes/interests...it's not impossible to find someone who likes you as you are, and who would want to have that family life with you. I think it's unlikely that it will never happen, as long as you just keep trying :) I know that's a lot easier said than done but..I think it would be worth it, if it means you get to have the life you always wanted, you know? Even if there's some setbacks, or if it takes a while...there's just gotta be someone out there that matches you (and probably several at least!). And even if it has to start online, there's nothing wrong with that either, it can be a lot easier to get to know someone rather than face-to-face!

You know, I don't think all that progress you had made in your self-confidence is gone, or didn't matter. You were able to get to that point once before! Who says you can't get there again, and to even improve your self-esteem beyond that :) You got there through your own hard work and determination. I really hope things can start looking up for you again soon heart

5 replies
User Profile: MT1991
MT1991 OP April 10th, 2018

@TaranWanderer

Thanks. That comment triggered something in me and I am not sure what it is, but it has taken a toll on me and caused me more misery than I ever can recall. It's caused me to feel like I have lost my sense of self, whuch hurts, badly.

4 replies
User Profile: TaranWanderer
TaranWanderer April 10th, 2018

@MT1991 Yeah, it does sound like it was a difficult comment to hear crying But you know, I'm sure that you know yourself much better than someone on the internet does! You have the full story, you get to feel your attractions, your feelings about yourself, and your life goals. I'm sure they didn't have all that knowledge when they said that. So, while I can definitely understand how hearing it would make you start doubting things and just stuck in a spiral of hurting and confusion...I'm confident that you'll gain your confidence back, to start feeling more solid in your identity again smiley

3 replies
User Profile: MT1991
MT1991 OP April 10th, 2018

@TaranWanderer

I hope so, so badly. I feel so lost now. My love of women has always been something I have cherished greatly, and it feels like I am missing one of the most cherished parts of me. It's horrible.

2 replies
User Profile: TaranWanderer
TaranWanderer April 10th, 2018

@MT1991 I'm sure you haven't lost that love! It sounds like it's just being hidden under some other things, so I'm certain that as your mood and self-esteem start improving, it will uncover itself

1 reply
User Profile: MT1991
MT1991 OP April 10th, 2018

@TaranWanderer

That's what I am hoping and praying for, so very badly.

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