Quote from: Moku on December 23, 2010, 05:10:36 PM
When I went to my therapist to explain my first experiences with E, she said  that I sounded like people who came to her having there first experiences with illicit drugs. Then I had this same question for my self.

I've had the same reaction to reading a really good book.
Books are like drugs! BURN THEM!

Quote from: CaitJ on December 23, 2010, 05:33:55 PM
Books are like drugs! BURN THEM!

The first time I read Brian Jacques, I think I had a braingasm.

Yet isn't there is a real danger from some people transitioning and believing that more is better?  I have heard that some go to the doc, get prescribed, then still go on line and order overseas. Reading too many books may stain your eyes, but too much E, P, or AA's has been proven to do serious harm in women on menopause doses.  Perhaps that is what the therapist was alluding to? I know when I am at the end of my injection cycle when I start getting really bitchy. Isn't that a symptom of drug withdrawal?  So it seems to me that there is, perhaps, a grain of truth to the statement.  I certainly don't think that it is cause for not using appropriate amounts, under a drs. care, but it could be a cautionary tale.

I'm high on information and addicted to life 

I think that the addiction analogy is more that we get caught up in the whole business of transition, from coming out to surgery.  We can bury ourselves in it and let it take over our lives, or we can work through it while maintaining other aspects of our lives - work, relationships, educaiton, etc.

I think that you can get addicted to cross-dressing.  I got close to that point a few times.  The dressing became so important that I was in danger of losing all sense, letting it take over my life regardless of my work or relationships.  That's when I knew I was in trouble and needed to do something more than just cross-dress.

Transition takes a lot of emotional energy and can affect every aspect of your life.  If you can maintain control of your transiton, then I don't think that the addiction metaphor works.  But if you are no longer in control of the process - that is, the process is driving you rather than the other way around - then perhaps a therapist might liken it to an addiciton.

- Kate

I struggled with being in this horrid body for 37 years there is no way it was an addiction for me. I have had my problems with illicit drug addiction including speed, cocaine and pot and this is one of the issues my therapist has taken me through to make sure i understood for myself that she did not believe i was in any way addicted to ->-bleeped-<-. We also went through the escapism bit as well.

But there were key things she noted that strongly suggested that i was just trans gender. So look into these things by all means but don't over intellectualize them. That path has no end.  You will always manage to find a way to extend it and find a way to rationalize this extension. If you are unable to accept who you are then maybe who you are isnt who you think you are.

She ended with... these things that you are worrying about are really a very rare occurrence ie that a person would become addicted to ->-bleeped-<- or you use it as a way purely of escape. She quoted the statistics to me at the time and yes they were very very low. I dont recall the numbers but i will try and remember to get them on my next visit.

As for the bedroom antics this was another worry for myself as well as i seemed to enjoy sex so much more when my wife treated me as a woman. Barb had some input there as well.... she said the fact that my wife accepted me whole heartedly as a woman added to the experience in a similar way that the acceptance of my friends and family has made me altogether alot happier.

i am me and i am she i am so happy to be she. I hope i made at least some sense here and didnt just babble like i am apt to do