Quote from: Michelle_P on June 16, 2017, 12:20:23 AM
I had issues growing up in the late 1950s and 1960s. In 1968, I was caught dressing and taken around to be evaluated. My folks were offered state of the art treatment for me, electroconvulsive followed by faradic or chemical aversion therapy. Mom talked them down to just testosterone injections, to treat this and my delayed onset of puberty (DES effects), combined with counseling by our local religious leader. I was eventually 'cured' of my perversion. Transition was never an option.
The "cure" unraveled in my late 20s as my mind slowly healed. I figured out that I was transgender in my early 30s, the early 1980s, but determined to suppress this for my wife and young children.
It took almost a half century of increasingly severe dysphoria, depression, and anxiety to overcome the damage and bring me to the point of suicide or seeking treatment. I decided to reach out when I was holding the pills in my hand.
I'm better now.
If transition had been a real option I would have loved to have done it. It wasn't. Things were very different back then for many of us.
You and I have a lot in common. I appreciate your courage. My DES damage caused many health problems which have limited my options and in fact was one of the factors in assuming I was stuck in this purgatory for life. By a stroke of luck I got advice from Dena and HughE and decided to go to therapy and tell the truth why I was depressed. I also appreciate all the information you have supplied. You inspire me every day. Thank you.
As I got older I heard of ->-bleeped-<-s invading North Hollywood. Outside of the Troubadour and Tommy's there is nothing in Hollywood that interests me. I did go to a gay nightclub once, The Circus Maximus, It was where Joann and I had our first date. The music was good but we preferred Rock to Disco. So we left after an hour or so. I must say, the activities going on in the corners befuddled me. Through wisdom of age I came to understand that not everyone operates to norms, and I should not pass judgement. IT IS NONE OF MY BUSINESS. Too bad others don't get the message
