Crossdressing and you. Choose one. Or possibly none?

[Wildaboutheels]

Addiction, addicting or addictive?

Or maybe none of the 3 apply to you when you are dressing/dressed?

Crossdressing clearly DOES produce "feel good" sensations in the brain of at least most here. These feel good feelings ARE caused by CHEMICALS.

And clearly some members seem tortured from their "addiction" and often opine they wish they could stop.

[Vicky_Scot]

None of the above. Natural would be the word I choose.

x x x

[deebra]

Yea I'm addicted. It's how you look at it, it can be great or bad. If society, wives and everyone else were accepting CDing in men to be just as normal as in women it would be great, dress as you like.

[Michelle1955]

Natural.

[Beverley Sims]

More natural, nothing addictive about it at all.

[Gillian Gigs]

I know that there is a "feel good sensation" about my dressing habits. I have often told myself that I need to control it, and not let it control me. That is probably why I set limits on myself on how far I will go.
So, I guess I will go with addictive, leading toward addiction if not monitored.

[Alice B]

All of the above. Each is situational

[Staci]

Addicting for me. Once you have decided to try it you can’t leave it. One pair of panties leads to adding a bra, then stockings, then a skirt or dress, oh how I need those pretty shoes. It just grows and that is why it is addicting. Today I have spent the entire day dressed in a satin short yellow prom type dress and all the trimmings. And you can’t forget how addicting the relaxation is that you feel when under stress as a male and you get to escape that for a while by dressing as your female self. I will never fully understand it but I don’t really need to.

[Tina June]

It is just natural for me. It "Feels Right", no addiction, no withdrawal.

[docrobbysherry]

If erotic, exciting, seductive, and arousing mean "feel good"? Then, that's what it is for me!:D

The fact that Sherry is so unnatural and mostly the opposite of me is what makes becoming her so addictive!:battingeyelashes:

[Mickitv]

I love Vicky's comment. It is completely natural for me also.

[CynthiaD]

I consider it "just being me."

"Natural" in other words.

[Lana Mae]

Natural! Hugs Lana Mae

[Periwinkle]

It's just a normal part of who I am that's always been there. So for me, it's less of an addiction and more something I would label as a personality trait.

[Teresa]

Wild...,
Find a balance and all those problems go away .

None of those descriptions really get to the crux of the problem, if we are born with slightly different wiring the problem is coming to terms with it then finding ways to be accepted .

It may be mostly chemistry in the brain but it's not an addiction , to many of us it's part of our being , to try and stop is denying that part of us .

[Lisa516]

It's very addicting for me, I'm lovin it too!

Food for thought:

"The cross dresser is doing nothing more than practicing some basic empathetic moves with which we are already very comfortable in many areas. Although we haven’t fully recognized it yet, cross-dressing is a very normal thing to do."

Love;
Lisa :)

[biancabellelover]

None of the above.

Personally, I don’t think that these classifications are helpful or accurate.

Michelle

[NancySue]

None listed. Addictions can be eliminated...one can stop smoking, drinking, gambling, etc. My sense is our dressing is more or less compulsive. You can quit, and many have tried, but as long as the Pink Fog lingers, sooner or later you’ll again dress. Accept it. Enjoy it.

[Helen Waite]

None. When dressed, I feel peace.

[Roxy_legs]

Feels totally natural to me. I am comfortable in my skin, no matter what clothes I am wearing.

[Territx]

I am not sure that natural fits exactly, at least in the way I use the word. Maybe something like "inherent" - as it is an integral part of me that I cannot explain.

[kimdl93]

In my limited understanding addictions are coping mechanisms that enable an individual to live with some sort of trauma in some aspect of life. Being born with a blurry gender identity might itself be traumatic, and lead to addictive behaviors and dependencies. This is complex stuff.

[Robertacd]

Addicted? Nah

Obsessed? Occasionally.

[Cassandra Lynn]

Yikes....here we go again. :straightface:

Yeah, the brain has a pleasure center, and it has a center for the opposite too; these centers are at work when ever we are conscious. Hit a green light as you come on one and you feel pleasure. So what?
Some of these, like my example are minor, some like chocolate are a bit more powerful...yada yada blah blah.

I'm a person in recovery and am now going to work in the field of alcohol and substance abuse treatment. Addiction is a disease and the results are life and death. Keep that in mind.

While there are some parallels, and the word 'compulsion' does fit, please remember that speaking of a topic like this affects many people. I've met and known a couple of dozen people here on this site that are also people in recovery and some of them here have lost loved ones to the disease.
"Tortured"? The tortures caused by addiction and the pain and anguish we go through in finding acceptance of our gender identity are different, trust me, I do know.

A little respect?
Cass

[sometimes_miss]

None of the above. The 'feel good' concept is simply a result of resolving the stress caused by feeling as if I'm in the wrong clothes and role when I'm dressed in men's clothing and actively, fully consciously behaving in ways which would be appropriate for an alpha male. Neither feels natural to me, but that is the best way to avoid most problems in life for someone born male.

[Lux]

The scientist in me says that it’s an endorphin and dopamine rush. The girl in me says I need this to feel peace and occasional escape the stress and pressures of being a man. My wife says; enjoy yourself, life is too short. For me it is addicting but not in a negative way if that makes sense?

[Diane Taylor]

For something that is totally natural...….in no way do I consider it an addiction, addicting, or addictive.

[Maria in heels]

For me, dressing is just allowing Maria to express herself. While she is always here, she steps into the background, sometimes for long periods, as life moves on. Now, if you want to know about the addiction part, it would be my high heel shoes! :D

[Cheryl T]

None of the above.
This neither an addiction, nor a hobby for me.
It began long before puberty and the typical male/female distinctions were made. It was something inside driving me and still is, not something initiated by anyone else.

[Wildaboutheels]

Are all Addictions bad?

Of course not.

[Cassandra Lynn]

Addiction:
1. Addiction is a medical condition that is characterized by compulsive engagement in rewarding stimuli, despite adverse consequences. It can be thought of as a disease or biological process leading to such behaviors.

addiction
[uh-dik-shuh n]
ExamplesWord Origin
See more synonyms for addiction on Thesaurus.com
noun
1. the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma.
------------------------------
I could have continued that, but you get the drift. I didn't seem to find any definitions that gave the impression that any addiction is good Wildabout.

I actually have a much better theory that a good many of you should consider. Maybe, like me, you actually are not 'just a crossdresser' but are in fact transgender and you are simply grooming and dressing in a manner that best suits you.

All this business of being obsessed or compelled becomes much less of a big friggin deal.
Acceptance was the answer.


Cass

[daviolin]

I consider crossdressing as an expressive art form. Oh yes and very addictive. Love it. Daviolin

[Anne E]

It’s just me.

Anne

[Lacey New]

I might agree with addiction. I have way too many panties and when I see a good sale or a new color in the style that I like, I find myself scheming to get them - and I do.

[ElianaFrozenflame]

"addicting" comes to mind, but I am not satisfied with that explanation. "natural" also comes to mind, but again, I am not satisfied with that explanation. At the same time, I feel disqualified from saying what it is not, not knowing what "it" is. And so it goes....

[Asew]

I feel like natural and obsessed fit better than addicted. But closer to addicted than not-addicted I guess.

[rhonda]

The "SPIRIT" which makes us do this has a pretty tight grip on the way we think and is not going to let us quit easily ,if ever

[VivienneH]

It feels entirely natural. And I enjoy it.

[Stephanie D]

Not to try and stir up semantics, but I guess I personally would have to say: because it first feels natural, it then feels good.
And because it feels good, it is addicting to want to have more of that good feeling.
And when that good feeling is not there or not available or being withheld for some reason, you then want it, or crave it, therefore, you are addicted.
Or, ie, you have an addition to that feeling of good, which is additive.

Oh boy, hope you understood what I mean...
Sorry, but personally, this question has surfaced before in the past and I kind of feel like it can be a distinction without a difference in terminology, as long as the basic premise is that there is no negative or harmful life implications to the topic.
For example: same 3 word scenario, but exchange crossdressing for yoga, and then change it with drugs or booze.
Then IMO, the meanings have different implications.
So in other words: Natural:)

[Melissa in SE Tn]

Bravo to Stephanie D & Helen Waite !!

[Micki_Finn]

Hate to be the grammar police, but those are all different forms of the same word.

[Laura28]

I would say it is addictive, we have all gone thru periods over the years were the urge hits and dress, once you start it becomes I want more. More time more outfits more this and that. Then it subsides. What I have found if I look back over the years and I mean many many years my dressing became more intense started when I was young trying on slips panties a bra. Fast forward 50 years and I have to be totally dressed make up wig etc. I want to see Laura in the mirror not my male self underdressed. The need to look like a woman is so much stronger then when I was younger, not just dress I know keep my self totally shaved, my breasts have grown and I love that. So I would say it is addictive but also I believe it is so much more natural.