They say there is no cure for crossdressing

Hi, I came across your blog when doing a completely unrelated search on net. I am an ex-crossdresser. Not sure how many of there are as of course once no longer a dresser you tend not to come to these sites. Don't know if cure is the right word but I haven't dressed or thought of dressing for over 11 years now. I managed through self taught, and couple of therapy sessions, in cognitive behavior therapy and also reading a lot on sexual addictionstop thought technique. The reason I went through this process is that I come to point where I had started to strongly think about reassignment surgery and this would have had a big impact on those I love. I wanted to share this as I remember the pain and mental anguish I went through those years ago.

I do miss some of the friends I made through crossdressing but found I had to leave them behind as well in order to start a new.

I wouldn't say there is a cure as such, kudos to Mark Freeman who overcame his desire to dress through willpower and therapy sessions, he is right it does take a lot of courage mentally and physically, also thinking about friends and those you love that you could end up leaving behind whichever path you take.
Choose wisely for if you go down the wrong route you could end up not feeling happy with yourself and feel depressed as a result.

Kind regards

Emily

There is no cure for Crossdressing, because Crossdressing itself is a cure. Crossdressing cures Gender Identity Disorder (hate to use the word "Disorder" because that gives a negative implication but that is the term that is given, so...)
Sometimes it may only be a temporary relief from malehood (or femalehood if you are F2M) but think about this. If we all have had these feelings of being feminine and wanting to express that but never once dressed in anything feminine, how tortured would we be by the questions that would go unanswered?

First of all there cannot be a cure for crossdressing as it is NOT a disease
caused by some virus or bacteria. It is a state of being and confusion.
Some are in denial and are really transgendered. Some may be intersext, but don't bother to have it checked out medically for fear of the unknown. This last statement I know is true. I have been transgendered since I realized it at age 7. I started wearing dresses at age 11, even though I knew physically I was a boy. I just felt right dressed this way, the way God had originally intended. I to out of fear tried to fight, taking a macho job (police officer), joined the navy special forces etc, etc. However I still could this internal feeling. I found a doctor and hesitantly explained the problem. He ordered a slurry of tests including bloodwork. He told me my Tostesterone levels were extremely low, my sperm levels were well below that of a prepubescent boy (I was 35). That there was an increased level of feminine hormones in my system. He examined my body, I had even realized I had initial started developing breasts, but had stopped for some unknown reason (I never took any hormone therapy, either male or female). 't a crossdresser but truly transgendered, but not intersext ( sexual organ developement of both sexual genitals). I accepted it. amily thought I crossdressed as well as a few friends I knew the truth. He (the doctor) also said that all males had this attribute, some developed fully as males while others did not, like somewhere in between. Is this the reason for crossdressing, I don't know. I do know that if you are a crossdresser then it is possible that a hormonal imbalance could be actually the cause and should be checked out. Forget the fear, while it may not appear natural, it is and in some cases, if wanted can be corrected.

I do not believe there is a cure. I have been crossdressing since I was 12. I started with my sisters clothing. It has progressed over the years. After 40, I started going out in public late at night. It feels good to feel the feminine side after trying so hard to stay masculine. It is just hard trying to find the right clothes and wig to make me look presentable.

I made it to 11 years too. After the 3rd major depression (first started within 9 months of "quitting") I realized what was missing was bringing me down. My femme side dying was killing me. Now I'm nurturing her I'm feeling a lot better. I wasn't cured, just in prolonged denial.

As a hetero-identified male who crossdressed from the first stages of puberty well into well near middle age, I used to think like the others here. "I was just born this way." "It's genetic. I will never be 'cured.'" I had one therapist who never even tried to guess at a solution, other than to suggest I'd be happier if I was bi-sexual, because I'd at least have more dating options. But guess what? You were not born with this. The problem, if you choose to see it as one, stems from what we might call a "misunderstanding" that occurred early on in your childhood. It is my guess that somewhere deep down, those people who grapple with this problem and came here either for help or out of morbid curiosity know this. They may even have a faint memory of something that happened to them long ago: most likely an event in which they dressed by a parental figure.

After years of a powerfully consuming addiction to internet crossdressing sites (one of the few outlets for those with such a fantasy-based sexuality) and trying to meet a woman online who was understanding of my tendencies, I eventually met a girl who happened to be particularly well studied in the area of sexuality and psychology. I told her basically my whole life story, and she intuitively deduced the root of my problem. Over the next several months together, we worked on various aspects of my life and personality, ultimately culminating in what could only be called a highly traumatic confrontation with one of my parents. And though I didn't know it at the time, when I got over this trauma, became apparent to both of us that, in that moment, after months of work, I had in fact been "cured." The next time we attempted to explore this area sexually, my desire to crossdress was simply, shockingly, gone. Not a temporary purge of clothes, which like many of you, I had done several times. No, the urge to dress was simply, unbelievably, miraculously, not there.

I realize this story for most will be difficult to swallow. Some will suspect there is some crackpot conservative religious pitch coming, or "know" that sexuality is something genetically programmed into us at birth. In a society whose general knowledge of sexuality has faiied to keep up with technological developments that satisfy and even exploit it, most of us with "deviant" leanings will never change or accept the possibility of doing so. But as my girlfriend-now-fiancee says, nothing in this world or in our sexual makeup is set in stone. Straight people can become gay, gay people can become straight, people don't like sex can become avidly sexual, people who think they can't stop having it can lose the desire completely. If you want a hint, start diverting your searches for titillating websites to papers discussing the Oedipal drama and the works of Dr. Freud himself, whose theories and discoveries, while still the subject of much misunderstanding and mocking oversimplification ("Tell me about your mother..."), I believe from personal experience hold the keys to certain kinds of enlightenment both for individuals seeking relief from their own self-destructive patterns and tendencies, and for the advancement of a more functional society on a broad scale.

Sorry to get preachy, but that's my story. After nearly 2 years, I am still free of those consuming desires that caused so much secrecy and self-condemnation in so many aspects of my life. Make of this all what you will, and good luck in your search.

I believe it is very possible to stop crossdressing. But a cure for it? It depends what you mean by cure. I think you can live a healthy fulfilling life without crossdressing (and without suppressing it and harming yourself). But you may still have the occasional desire for it that you would resist.

I talk about that in this post, that the desires might never leave, but we can still resist them and live a happy life.
http://healingcd.wordpress.com/2012/02/05/healing-doesnt-mean-no-more-temptations/

In this post, I talk about some beginning steps one could take to stop crossdressing for good.
http://healingcd.wordpress.com/2012/03/18/12-steps-to-stop-crossdressing/

Great article!

Thank you for this article.

I'm a Christian in my mid-30s and a former cross-dresser. I've struggled with it since I was 12 years old. My routine was very odd compared to the usual cross-dresser's lifestyle...I only dressed fem so I could film myself as I re-enact or mimic a sexy woman being objectified. Bikini contestants and exotic dancers were my favorite role-playing subjects. Since I'm a virgin--yes, it's true--this was how I justified my lifestyle: if I can't be with a woman, I'd be my own woman. Admittedly, a lot of my dressing was due to a bit of self-hatred, being treated like an inferior being all through adolescence (and for a particular incident involving me and two unsupervised older boys at a day care center). I sought momentary comfort through it.

Though I was never gay, I enjoyed posting my pics and videos to social sites, eager to receive adoring comments from so-called "straight" men. To me, it meant that I was doing a credible female impression for them. There were even some videos and photos that I wanted to make with other men, as long as they didn't involve sex. I quickly discarded that idea, since no male admirer of cross-dressers is going to be teased like that. It's like asking a hungry man to photograph a buffet, then leave.

A few months ago, I saw a photo of a beautiful t-girl who had died in a motorcycle accident only a few days after that particular photo had been taken. I began to think about myself, how I had always hoped that I would eventually get bored with this lifestyle and live a Christian life. But I realized how quickly life can end for all of us, no warning whatsoever. I certainly believe in an afterlife, and if I were to die while still being a cross-dresser, I'd have to stand before an irate God as the MALE he created me to be. At that moment, **nothing** is going to matter other than whether we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior--and whether we've kept His commandments. I knew I was in eternal peril, since my cross-dressing persona (Trish) was the idol I served, and the images that I created were being seen by other men, leading them into temptation and possibly destroying their lives.

I was heavily stressed for the next few days. I sought forgiveness through prayer, and slowly, a sense of calm and assurance flowed over me. If I didn't know what repentance was before that day, I knew what it was since then. I don't want that feeling of terror again, and I'm done with that sense of self-hatred and shame. Through my trust and faith in Jesus, I'm finished with cross-dressing.

I truly appreciate your quotes about Jesus. He healed the blind and the lame. He can most definitely cure the cross-dressing fetish, or any fetish.

I went 15 years without cross-dressing and thought I was cured. LOL But once my children left the nest the cross-dressing came back and stronger than ever. In fact I am now thinking of transitioning to living as a woman full-time and have started therapy analysis to see if it is right for me. One may think they are cured but I assure you there is no cure. It will always come back!

Cure
I agree its not a disease
What is it? I m not sure because its not the same for all. I ve always thought about Deut where it says women and men shall not wear the clothes of the other but that never stuck fir me once I looked deeper in to that scripture. There are all sorts of things that were in that chapter that we no longer adhere to.
But something recently has caught my eye... its the sin of sensuality. For me this is way more relevant since i like dressing for the feeling i get.
The bible tells us sensuality is a sin.

So i struggle to fight that. I also struggle now that there are men's lingerie makers so i am no longer wearing womens clothes at that point
Homme Mystere
Crox-d
X dress
I have lingerie from each and love wearing it so its not just that its wimens clothes for me
I genuinely like them how they look on me and how i feel in them

So it creates a complicated dilemma

I do accept that I am a heterosexual crossdresser
I struggle with the sin of sensuality

I eager await everones commentary

All it took was for me psychiatrist to tell me I wasn't transgender. I've been happy as a man ever since. I'm free from the burden as last. It only took 30 years of my life. Thank god.

I do not subscribe to the idea that crossdressers can be cured. I'm not a doctor, and I do not play one on TV, but crossdressing is not a disease. There are many different reasons that we choose to feel, and look feminine. As for myself, I started out of curiosity about why my sister loved her pretty clothes so much. We were close in size, so I tried various things on, when I could. I loved the way things felt against my skin. As I became an adult man, I always looked at women like most men do. But a lot of the time I was actually looking at what they were wearing, wondering if I could look as pretty as them. I realized that I truly felt more and more like I would love to be able to wear whatever I desired. As far as a disease goes, I have a disease for which there is no cure. I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 6 years ago. As a result, I know what a true disease is. I would give almost anything to find a cure for that. In my opinion crossdressing is a cure for my depression.