Allannah,
When you live with one reality for a long time, everyone thinks you are who you appear to be, and then you realize, wait ...that reality is not reality at all, of course you will have questions. In our society, we get no education or training or even good press about being trans. We face risking the image everyone knows us as if we do anything to change to be more comfortable . What sane person would not start out with doubts? As to being a compulsion, I think everybody is compelled to be who they truly are. Most people have a tendency to want to be accepted by others, to be like others. I think if we find we need a different or unusual path in our life than everyone else, we tend to fear that we are defective, that there is something wrong with us. We come to this site because we hear that others are similar to us. It is reassuring. We can come to know that our feelings are not a defect, we just want to be the people that our brains tell us we are.
Now sorry for my rant, but I see nothing in your post that makes me think you are being delusional in any way.
Moni