It's okay, and it would also be okay to say what you are probably thinking is TMI here if you want. This is another thing where I think you just need to sit down and have an honest talk about it. I do generally believe that in sex, someone's discomfort trumps someone else's enjoyment, just like some...

(Please stop using language like dumb here on the boards. Used as a slur it is offensive to mute people, but it also doesn't abide by the limit we have around not putting yourself down.) So, there's some inconsistency between what you are saying here and what we have talked about in chat, and it may...

I don't want to move too far from where Ro was with you, Sky, but I do want to address what you have just said. So, in order to have sex with someone else, we still have to find that person, get to know them at least enough to make sure they're a good fit for us and we for them and to establish some...

What I am hearing from you right now is that maybe you're in a questioning space, maybe you're actually more of a genderfluid person, or maybe -- and this would certainly be understandable -- you are someone who feels more of a feminine identity but that scares you because it sounds like you are so ...

I actually have rarely questioned my sexuality through my life, it's more than over time, some subtle -- and occasionally not so subtle -- shifts have happened or the overall language has changed and I have just gone with it. That said, I also have never been bothered by not knowing things about mys...

I’m sure if it were that easy to do, you’d already have done it!

I don’t think your questions are stupid or annoying. You don’t need to apologize for asking for help.

Ah, okay, so I would strongly advise that you really do put as much energy into this therapy as possible, and maybe start by bringing some of these questions to them at your next appointment?

Hey there, welcome to the boards! I wonder if you might be open to talking through the fears you have when this is happening, like what, exactly, do you worry will happen? What's your worst case scenario if you do just go ahead through the fear? Sometimes talkign this stuff out loud can go a long way.

But you're not avoiding a fear, you would instead be allowing yourself to experience that fear. That gives you practice experiencing it and experiencing that you can survive it and nothing bad will actually happen. That's actually a pretty common concept in helping people deal with these kinds of fe...

So, both with the medications and with the masturbation you're asking about, my best advice would be to just start practicing what you mentioned earlier: trying things anyway even though you are afraid. Honestly, this is what most of us have to learn, that we can be afraid and still do things, so so...

Oh, you don't need to apologize, I wasn't offended, I was just trying to inject some reality into the equation. I'm so, so sorry that you suffer with this so broadly, Brian. I've had people close to me who struggle with this, too, and I know it can literally feel like being tortured all the time. I'...

Welcome to the boards. :) You know, I find that if you can let go of the idea that there is EVER a once-and-for-all with any aspect of our identities, especially one as fluid as our sexual identity can tend to be, and instead see words you use as ways of describing yourself in and for the present, t...

A few books I think might be right for you: My Anxious Mind by Katherine A. Martinez and Michael Anthony Tompkins is one of my favorites. It's relatively short, very clear, and very compassionate. Unfuck Your Brain: Using Science to Get Over Anxiety, Depression, Anger, Freak-outs, and Triggers by Dr...

Really, the only people for whom that is true, for whom pregnancy is a risk by virtue of existing, are people with a uterus. Because it's us (well, not me, anymore, I'm post-menopause, but you know what I mean) who can actually become pregnant, and also us who more often don't always get a say in wh...

Great! Hopefully you also learned that sperm cannot actually do ANYTHING by themselves. And I agree with you! How you feel doesn't change facts. But for sure, when you have catastrophic thinking you haven't learned how to manage yet, it can be really hard to believe that. I also agree that doing wha...

One more thing! Relationships change over time. They do. In a myriad of ways. And it may just be that one way this relationship may change over time is that it doesn't stay romantic or sexual. If your girlfriend only wants a boyfriend but you aren't and don't want to be a boy, this just isn't going ...

Hey there, Emelyn. Welcome to the boards. Our userbase tends to be between 15 and 30, so you're all good! So, it often is very challenging, all around, for people to transition their gender in most ways inside a relationship, particularly if and when anyone in that relationship isn't a very flexible...

So, reassuring someone over and over again like this not only doesn't help with anxiety, it makes anxiety stickier. This is why what I suggested, instead, is that you read that piece. Were you able to read it? What did you learn from it when you did? Tell me a few things: I want you to experience do...

Hi there, Brian. So, here is a piece that I suggest you make some time to sit down and read in a way that you can really take it in. It explains exactly how pregnancy happens and why these kinds of scenarios are NOT how it can happen: Human Reproduction: A Seafarer's Guide . It might help to think a...

Hey there, Sky. I have been keeping up with the conversation here, and I wanted to pitch in with a few things. The biggest one is that, as is so often the case, I see you getting really caught up in a lot of what-ifs that are often a lot further down the road of getting to know someone or being sexu...

Hey there. I'm not seeing anything in here that sounds like emotional abuse to me, but it certainly sounds like Haris is a terrible housemate. You can find a definition of emotional abuse and things it usually involves here, if it's helpful: https://www.scarleteen.com/read/abuse/blinders-getting-goo...

You're welcome. Happy to talk more about any of it anytime. <3

Archer: just like I just said with another post of yours, this question was one you asked in a post I already responded to, so I am going to close this one. Moving forward, rather than making a bunch of posts at once, can you wait for us to reply (it's never a long wait!) to one before making more w...

Hey, Archer. Your other post today also included that question, so since I already opened up conversation in that one, I'm going to close this one. Meet me over there?

Hi there. And welcome to Scarleteen and the boards. Before I say anything else, I want to say that I do not feel this is hopeless. Our sexualities and our experiences with pleasure are a lifelong thing, and you're still very, very young. It's quite common -- even if it isn't in your friend group -- ...