A common? response to stress

[harris]

I have a pretty high threshold for stress. But I'm getting to the upper end of it. I have yet to lose sleep or have health problems. It's nothing that serious, yet. But I am finding myself pre-occupied with diapers. I'm guessing it is a response to the stress, something always alleviated by being diapered. Lately, everytime I have to pee when I'm at the office, I have to remind myself I'm not diapered (though I haven't had any close calls), and then quickly regretting that I'm wearing boxers. It's distracting. Anyone else find that in high stress times diapers have become a first response? Maybe it's just because it's the easiest, albeit temporary, fix. This stress has a 1.5-4.5 year shelf life.

I'm also considering speaking to a counselor. The inevtiable "what do you usually do when you're stressed" question will come up, and I don't want to be withholding. Has anyone ever told a counselor about their infantilism? It would be a university counselor. My concern is that my career choices (at the moment) all come with high profiles, and I don't want my choice of stress reliever documented for posterity. If anyone knows whether such counselors are required to take and file notes, that would be helpful too.

Thanks.

 

[Nam Repaid]

Hey harris!

Stress is a strange and powerful thing. Funny you would post this today as I had a long talk about it with my therapist this afternoon. He knows about my diapers and dolls and about some more self-destructive behaviors, smoking and drinking. I’d find myself out on the deck at 4AM (work starts at 7) downing a shot & lighting up. I beat cigarettes in the midst if my most stressful years but still drink more than I’d like when life gets to me. The session was more about why certain things cause me stress and relearning my response (not get stressed) than my response to the stress or my “stress relievers”. Diapers and a few other kinks have always helped me without being too self destructive. When I was younger I would turn to things like catheters, enemas, stretching, piercing and deep anal play in times of great stress. I guess its like kids cutting, if you can’t deal with the reasons something stresses you out you start to turn against yourself.

Don’t be afraid to seek counseling, they will work more on why something stresses you than your response to the stress. Mine does take notes but they are bound by privacy laws, so even if you enter politics you should be safe. Do not be afraid to voice those concerns at the start, as you’ll benefit a lot more if you trust him enough to be honest.

Best of luck!

Nam

 

[daria7483]

I would imagine that any counselor would take notes and keep a record (I believe they're required to, just as your primary care physician must keep records on you) but for the counselor to make a note on any record that would be seen by a potential employer would be highly illegal. You are protected under HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), which prevents the counselor from sharing your records with anyone, even your parents if you're over 18, without your consent. The only exception to this would be if you showed such severe symptoms of mental illness that you were considered a threat to yourself or someone else, and trust me, you have to do a lot more than use diapers as a stress reliever for that to happen.

 

[Lil Snap]

This may seem overly obvious, but make sure you aren't confiding these things to your academic counselor, but rather a trained professional. You said university counselor, so I wanted to make sure.

 

[dogboy]

I was thinking the same thing Lil Snap. In fact I was thinking you should go to a psychologist, giving you doctor confidentiality. Yes, I went to a psychologist my senior year in college. I had a psychotic break because of stress. I was dealing with the stress both through diapers, but also alcohol and drugs, as well as deviant sex. It all came crashing down. That record never followed me into the employment arena. Just be careful who you choose.

 

[PostTenebrasLux]

I think you could benefit from counseling even if you do not introduce the topic of infantilism. In my experience, many of my current struggles are related to my being an ab/dl, but I've gotten some encouragement (don't just call it 'help') regarding my performance in school without me ever mentioning my kink.

If you feel like bringing it up, I think you should. Given recent reading & conversations, I feel like it's almost a safe bet that your counselor might not be a stranger to infantilism. But even if he/she is, they're certainly not there to judge you, and although they do take notes, how bad is a preference for diapers? It's strange, I guess, but only sinful based on the environmental impact (I do feel guilty about that...). I'm not sure where I read this, but I believe a U.S. Senator was recently 'outed' as an infantilist as part of a much nastier prostitution scandal. I've heard references to this particular Senator recently, but none have mentioned a predilection toward diapers. My feeling is that a high profile person is less likely to experience trouble from diapers than from drugs or booze or prostitutes.

Infantilism isn't the problem, and I'm sure they'd say the same thing; the problem is the stress, or any dangerous behaviors you might use to alleviate the stress. I've gone through nearly one year of counseling, about 1 or 2 weeks in betweens sessions--maybe that's not much, I really don't know. For me, counseling was beneficial in reducing anxiety and reinforcing my perception of myself as a student. I'm no longer concerned about the quality of my intellect or character. Counseling didn't do a damn thing for my confidence as a 'man' though--I didn't let the conversations go that way, and wasn't ready to say the words (it's even hard to type them) no matter what the situation.

You mentioned that you have yet to lose sleep or have health problems over things that are stressful--based on that statement alone it sounds to me like you're mainly on top of things. Sure, things may suck, but in general you make it sound like you're winning the fight; give yourself a slap on the back. We're all up against some steep odds, and you have to admit that you've done pretty well so far.

I, for one, tip my hat to you sir--I've been there. Still am. You have the right to feel stressed. It won't be like this forever. Eat plenty of bacon, drink plenty of coffee, stand up straight. Get an appointment with a counselor, and if the spirit moves you, bring up infantilism; if you don't feel like talking about it, don't--you don't have to. I think it'd be beneficial either way.

Keep us posted!

 

[harris]

Thank you for the advice. Of course I would meet with this person several times before telling them about my infantilism, and only then if i was comfortable. I'm not concerned with their making their notes public, but with someone else (in my business, we call the opposition researchers) would. I believe that senator you referred to is no longer in congress.

I do think that it will prove useful to me to speak to a third party, someone with nothing invested who can be objective. I might start a blog, and if I do, I might post what comes of this.

 

[Maverick]

TB/DL-ish activities are the number one stress reliever for me. I'm not addicted to diapers, but when my stress levels get high, I usually have to run to diapers or another TB-ish thing, like my blankie.

I had to talk to infantilism with my psychologist, becuase my mom told him. It was pretty damn awkward, probably because I didn't even like the guy. He thought it was an unhealthy way of relieving stress, and that it'd cause problems for me later in life. Every psychologist is different, though, so if you go to one, best of luck to you.

 

[DLGrif]

He thought it was an unhealthy way of relieving stress, and that it'd cause problems for me later in life. Every psychologist is different, though, so if you go to one, best of luck to you.

Sorry if this is off-topic, but I feel like if I went to a psychologist and discovered he had an unspoken personal bias against diapers as therapy, I'd spend the next few sessions discussing HIS point of view on the matter. Might open his eyes a bit, and show that you've really thought it through.

 

[Mr Alex]

Mine had the same opinon, it was for me, and probably is for you a waste of time to convince them otherwise Maverick. So Harris, if he takes it badly, go a few more times, try to convince him it isn't bad, and if that doesn't work, go elsewhere, if you can afford it.