who am I?

Heart89
Community Member

OK, Im a 29 year old male. I came out as gay when I was about 18. I have had constant bouts of depression/social anxiety since my early teens years. I was diagnosed with major depression 10 or so years ago and since then have been on numerous antidepressants and seen multiple therapists. No matter what I do It never goes away and comes back worse even. I just end up feeling empty and tired. I withdraw from friends and daily life and the cycle begins again. I've never been in a serious relationship. I know my depression and anxiety is linked to me being gay but Its definitely not all of it. I am fine with being gay. Everyone who matters to me knows and I had a relatively smooth coming out story compared to a lot of people. I just don't understand why I find it so hard to keep any kind of relationship going. Talking to new people, even people I know fairly well is a major struggle. I'm constantly worried about messing up in some way. I feel like people think I'm either stupid or rude because I come off as disinterested or absent-minded when really all I'm doing is freaking out about saying something wrong or worrying about being the center of attention, although, I'm always told that I'm the nicest person so what's that about? I have never been able to really express who I am other than to a small number of people. Even then though I don't even really have a concept of who that is. I feel like a fraud. I don't know who I am. I have always kind of existed in the background. I feel like people are only seeing some persona that I've "created" in order to protect myself? but that's not me. I don't know. Pretty much all my life I have felt "other" and have never really fit into any group. When I came out I thought things might be different but I have never felt like I belong in the community either. I feel like I don't deserve happiness or love. I'm nearing 30 and I'm unemployed, broke, still living at home, never had a boyfriend, exhausted, overwhelmed, lost, overweight the list goes on. All I want to do is sleep for 1000 years. Everything is a mess. I cannot live the rest of my life like this. Its either going to get better or I will kill myself. I'm not suicidal at the moment but that's just how it is.

??

Sorry this probably isn't very coherent but its 3.30am.

Tom

2 Replies 2

marcus_c
Community Member
Hi Tom, I know the feeling of not being able to sleep at 3:30 and having 'what the hell am I doing with my life' type thoughts running around in my head. It's not nice, so I hope that by typing all that out you got some relief. You've touched on a number of things in your post, so I'm not going to try and tackle everything in this reply, but hopefully provide some different context to what you're feeling.

Ok. What you're going through right now makes sense. It is not a fault or flaw in your character. It is possible to have a non-traumatic coming out and still be affected years later, it is an unfortunate consequence of being different in a world where most people are straight.

In the teenage years, that's when most people are figuring out their identity. It can be a scary and confusing time for everyone, but it's made less so because you're surrounded by people also going through the same thing. Your parents went through the same thing. There are books, tv shows, movies all about people like you going through the same thing. For gay people, there's much less of that positive reinforcement, so we don't get to start figuring out our identity properly until we're into our twenties.

What are most straight people doing in their twenties? Starting to have their first intimate, serious relationships. This is really hard work even if you're doing it from a base of having already figured out your identity. But if you're still on that journey? You feel like a fraud, you worry about messing up, about presenting yourself in the 'right' way - but how do you even know what the right way is?

You may have thought about all this already, and you're right in saying that your depression is not 100% related to being gay. But maybe by accepting that, when it comes to relationships and identity, everyone develops at their own pace might mean that you're a bit less hard on yourself.

I hope you got a good sleep eventually, come back to post again and talk some more if you like about whatever else is on your mind.

Rabbit33
Blue Voices Member
Blue Voices Member

Hi Tom,

I'm sorry to hear you're going through such a tough time. I can relate to you on most of what you are saying.
I've suggested this book to a few people now. if you're into reading, you should check out 'The Velvet Rage' Written by Alan Down - It's about growing up gay in a straight mans world. And I think you'll be quite surprised to see just how similar the book reads to your current situation. it's a huge eye opener. I LOVED IT

Hope you're doing well. Best of luck 🙂