How do you get over it?

Get over it? Ha. Ha. I don't know. I was trying to get over it up until a few weeks ago, and really I was convinced I would have committed suicide by the time I was 30.

I've read about quite a lot of transwomen who really try to focus on masculinity to suppress their feelings, and that didn't help. I didn't focus on that and really just let myself get buried in a hole of depression (+grief from close death in the family) and anxiety. I don't drink or do drugs, but I drowned myself in online gaming where I could 'be myself'. That certainly didn't help because it wasn't enough for me. I'd step away from the computer and feel like shit. I never went to a counselor about it, and while that may have helped, I feel like I'd want to work through specifically the grief and associated guilt instead of my gender identity.

So basically... I see a few options for you, and I'm really sorry if these aren't the ones you're looking for.

  1. Live with it. It will ALWAYS be there, somewhere, in your mind. Some days it might just be a little gnawing at the back and you can be fine. Others it might paralyze you. I don't know if you ever want kids, but I think I would have been a reasonably happy (and good) father to children. But the feelings would still be there.

  2. Embrace it. Work toward transition. Many many hardships down this road that I've also just started on. From my hours of perusing, consensus is that it is worth it.

  3. Let it consume you. This is the road I chose to follow from 20-27. I wasted the better part of my 20s doing this, and I wasn't going to make it much past 30. I don't see how this path can lead anywhere but an early death or some mental/emotional break. I'm glad I took a left turn.

In any case.. I'd really recommend a therapist to help you work through your feelings.

/r/asktransgender Thread