this post was submitted on 25 Apr 2025
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Mental Health

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/post/25065914

I'll never be more than a fetish to people

Mods, please lmk if this post is not appropriate for this community

My dream is to have someone—anyone—see me as more than just a friend. To have someone who wants me, in more than just a sexual way. That dream haunts me.

The only attention I receive is from Grindr. I see my worth as how much I can starve myself to stay thin. I figure at least if I’m petite, pervs online will want to use me as part of their fetish. I oblige them because they desire me in those fleeting moments. After they get what they want, they never contact me again. That is my value as a person.

I’m so insecure, so unconfident. I see people like my best friend, who can get any guy she wants without even trying, and I have only envy and resentment. What’s worse, I think I have feelings for her, unrequited love that will only serve to hurt more as she explores her new life as a single woman. I don’t think even she sees me as a woman, but as a feminine man who lies to himself in the mirror each day. A pretender.

I don’t even try anymore. What’s the fucking point?

Clearly I’m not in a good place mentally/emotionally. I’m tired of therapy; it has not helped me. I feel like a failure in almost all aspects of my life. I can’t even get high anymore, so now on particularly bad days I drink instead. Today I’m getting drunk. I don’t care to tell anyone IRL how I really feel these days. It’s just a waste of breath on my part, and a waste of time on their’s. No one I care about wants to hear about my problems, feelings and fears anymore. It’s best to accept this bitter reality—better to be the funny person than to share my internal struggles and profound sadness.

I’ve got my son, and he is going to venture out into the world on his own in a matter of a few years. Then I will truly feel alone. His love is what keeps me on this earth, nothing else.

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[–] CheeseToastie@lazysoci.al 10 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Dealing with bipolar is exhausting, it's constant meds, therapy but always the bipolar rears it's head. It can feel relentless, overwhelming and leave us feeling hopeless. With the hopelessness comes all the bad thoughts about us, our life, the world and everything. It can really drag us down.

I'm sorry things are bad mate, I'm here with you.

[–] SayJess@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Thank you for the clarity. No one understands the struggle…but you seem to. If I’m not careful, I will confess to my best friend. But looking at it logically, there is not a single timeline in which this doesn’t end with the end of our multi-year relationship. There are times in which I truly believe the world would be better without me. Maybe this is one of those times. I’m definitely legally drunk, and will sleep and have nightmares of what could be. I wish I could sleep and never wake up.

[–] dandelion@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

not that this means anything for your situation, but I also developed feelings for my best friend. There were many reasons I was absolutely certain she couldn't have feelings for me. I didn't want my friendship to end, but I felt unethical withholding that information from her, and it became painful ... I struggled with what to do, but ultimately decided I had to come clean. I grieved the relationship for weeks and finally told her how I felt ... now we're married.

I never believed in myself, I never believed the relationship was possible (and to be fair, I think anyone would have agreed - it is a very unlikely story). It was pure chance, freak chance, scary chance. Over a decade later and it's still not real to me, it's like I slipped into a fantasy world.

Sometimes our perceptions of reality are wrong, our guesses about the probabilities are heuristic and tend to narrow the world, but the world is weird and wacky sometimes - extremely improbable events occur all the time.

I'm not advising you burn your best friendship on the unlikely chance she feels the same, I'm only saying you don't know.

Maybe this only adds to your distress, I hope it doesn't. I hope you take hope from it, that it opens your own perspective for what's possible a little. I wish you well. ❤️

[–] SayJess@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I wish she’d see me as more than a friend, but tonight I realized that that will never happen. We had a wonderful time together. We laughed and cried. She showed me the texts between her and this new guy she likes. I need to be happy for her, but who’s happy for me? Who’s there for me? I want so badly for it to be her, but it never will be. I will have to continue down this path alone. Things are better off without me.

[–] dandelion@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 4 days ago

All I can say is I often feel the same way, and I am often corrected by the people in my life when I say these things. Sometimes you're just wrong, even when it feels so real and the feelings are so big.

I know you haven't found therapy helpful (to be honest, I have had the same experience), but it seems like you might try to find a better therapist who can really help you. It helps too if you are picky, choose therapists with a PhD and who come recommended - hopefully they will be qualified to help.

[–] CheeseToastie@lazysoci.al 6 points 6 days ago

It's a tricky situation mate. Get some rest and we'll be here when you wake up