For some of us, and I'm intentionally not speaking for ALL of us because I can't, we can stop cross dressing just as easily as we can stop eating and drinking. "We can stop for a while, we can limit..." our eating and drinking. And for some of us, stopping dressing is just as destructive in the long run as stopping eating and drinking.
I, too, stopped for long periods of time - when I was deployed to war zones, when my daughter (who knows but does not want to see it) visits for months, etc. But the longer I go, the more some ... destructive behavior starts to creep back into my life. Like alcohol, for example. I 'can' go about as long as one year now without dressing, but that's about my limit. And for me, it's like trying to force a trout to breathe air.
I can't explain it, I just know this is how I feel. And I doubt very seriously that I'm alone in this. My eyes were opened a few years ago to the fact that I am not alone anymore, that there are other people out there who feel exactly as I do in many respects.
It's not a matter of "making us happy" like seeing a good movie is or watching your daughter graduate from college. It is NOT the same thing. To me, saying that trivializes what happens when we dress.
For some of us, it really is a need. And when deprived, we go into deep depression.
Don't ask me to explain it. If I could, I'd be insanely rich.
~Mel