Sometimes when it seems like everything is getting on top of me at home (kids arguing with each other, wife making an issue of some little thing that to me doesn't seem important etc) I just feel like I want to get into a dress and some heels. It just feels so much more relaxing and stress-free. It doesn't feel like I'm experiencing any huge gender issues in terms of wanting to live permanently as a woman at the moment or that the stress is caused by a constant need to dress in the back of my mind. Maybe the crossdressing and stress are totally unrelated and I'm putting two and two together for no reason. But can it be related? Has anyone else noticed little things just starting to get under their skin for no apparent reason?

I tend to be masculine and aggressive when I am busy working and researching. I feel feminine when I become relaxed. Also running outdoors stimulates my desire to be more feminine.

Yes. It is possible that crossdressing can relieve your stress.

Nowadays, wearing men's dresses or shoes are beyond the scope of my stress: it is just intolerable or impossible.

barbie~~

The more stress I'm under the more dress which drives my wife crazy,my wife knew before we married and has no problem with it up to a point,so I try not to overdo it. I wear panties all the time now which she is fine with,and it keeps me somewhat sane as not to go totally crazy.

Quote from: Christine_Hart on October 07, 2016, 08:07:11 AM
Sometimes when it seems like everything is getting on top of me at home (kids arguing with each other, wife making an issue of some little thing that to me doesn't seem important etc) I just feel like I want to get into a dress and some heels. It just feels so much more relaxing and stress-free. It doesn't feel like I'm experiencing any huge gender issues in terms of wanting to live permanently as a woman at the moment or that the stress is caused by a constant need to dress in the back of my mind. Maybe the crossdressing and stress are totally unrelated and I'm putting two and two together for no reason. But can it be related? Has anyone else noticed little things just starting to get under their skin for no apparent reason?

It is a stress reliever at least it was for me. A chance to escape for a few hours and feel happy. The anger, was always present even as a teen. The thing I have experienced is that soon after starting HRT the anger has subsided and I am a lot more content. Even though I am 65 and worse off then Cheney was before he got his transplant, I look forward to a future. I have not had that experience in 38 years.

For those of us who identify with a gender other than that assigned at birth, we aren't really cross-dressing when we dress as the gender we identify with.  We are getting our gender presentation lined up to match our gender identity, which can be a tremendous relief.  With this we get out from under the constant stress of pretending to be a person of our assigned at birth gender.

Some have noticed that I refer to my presenting as male as cross-dressing, even though i was assigned male at birth.  I identify as a woman, and dressing in slacks and a work shirt is cross-dressing for me.  I'm much more comfortable in a skirt and blouse, or my skinny jeans and turtleneck than I ever was in a male costume.  That comfort, and the drop in stress allows me to communicate better with others, be more relaxed, and generally function as a better human being.

Just another perspective on how this activity affects us...

I couldn't agree more!

I have several stress relief stages. The first is to put on a sexy bra and see-through top. The second is red lipstick.

The third is stockings and suspender belt plus heels. I am often impatient and ladder my sheer stockings, though. Fishnets are a lot more durable. I love wobbling about in heels & bra!

If I am still stressed, I couple up to my nipple pumps. I am presently in agony from the nipple suction, but it will ease later.

I told my therapist there my comfort close

My wife's therapist has told her that when I wear women's clothes I am soothing myself.
I can live with that. - Which means that when I present as female I feel whole and at one with myself.
Paraphrasing and changing a famous expression, "Dressing as a woman has charms that can soothe the savage beast."

For my wife getting home and getting into sweats or jammies is her comfort clothes and it relaxes her.  For me its a skirt and some hosiery and I feel centered and relaxed.  Whatever floats your boat

It seems a lot of CIS girls relax by "slobbing out". My wife puts on jammies and a robe after showering and sits about in that all night. Many of us dress up to chill out. I put on a nice dress, forms and tights after showering and spend the evening like that. I suspect it is because we get stressed by having to wear a disguise outside and the relaxation comes from the relief of being ourselves. That's how it feels to me. On other threads girls report more slobbing out after going full time or transitioning. If you can be yourself all the time then you don't need the dressing up to relax.

Hugs
B

Even when I go out to do errands.
If it is in guy mode I feel as if I am pretending to be someone I am not.
If it is in girl mode I just feel normal

When in girl mode, I probably do not look as if I "pass". When in girl mode I just am more open, conversational, and feel more in my own skin when I go to the basic places to to basic errands such as the grocery store or the hardware store.
In guy mode I know I am not some "dude" or some jock. I know I am faking it in guy mode.
Stressful pretending to be a man when I feel like a woman.

When I am working the one thing that I look forward to is going home and getting the hell out of my bland male clothes and putting on something silky or wearing one of my bras and panties or when going to bed and sleeping in a nightie, its all that I think about so when I am stressed out and just want to be like hell with this I just think how feminine I will be in a few hours once I get home. I so wish I could be a woman 100%

I too have come to the realization of how dressing to make myself more feminine makes me relaxed and an all around better and nicer person. I  honestly have never had a hard time being a guy, but i feel more like myself when im not.

It definitely relaxes me, but I'd say it's more than that. It's a sense of "completeness." Few things feel more right to me than to take a relaxing shower, throw on a nice soft top, comfortable ladies shorts that hug me, and just watch something slow and easy on TV. This is certainly true after a difficult day, but also at other times.