ABDL Struggling with Guilt and Panic Attacks

Dear Papabear,

Over the past several years, I have made a good life for myself. I own my own house, my own car, I have a successful career as an electrical engineer for a prominent aerospace company. I am heavily involved in my local church. On my off time, I like to explore my creative hobbies. From the outside, I look like a very successful bachelor who has it all together, but I've been secretly struggling with an issue that has plagued me since I was 10, one that I could never ever admit to the people around me. I am secretly an infantilist (ABDL/babyfur etc.).

The TL;DR [too long, didn't read] is that I have an extreme fascination with basically anything that is "babyish" (diapers, pacifiers, baby bottles, etc.). I even have a small collection of ABDL-style diapers, pacifiers, onesies, stuffed animals, and baby bottles that I have hidden in my bedroom that I like to wear and play with on a regular basis. For some reason, I find the idea of being 2 years old again really comforting. It makes me feel safe and innocent and cute, and I often fantasize about another man taking care of me in that way. But even though I feel these things, whenever I "act out" in the privacy of my own home, I also feel equally very horrified and disturbed by it. I find myself regretting it and hating myself, sometimes crying and losing my cool over doing these things and having these feelings. What is worse is that very recently, I have noticed that whenever I'm in "Little Time" for too long, I start shaking and experiencing panic attacks, sometimes experiencing disturbing and hazy flashbacks to when I was 3 years old, and my mom pulling me out of daycare out of concern for my safety (I asked her some time ago about what happened there, but all she would tell me was that she thinks I may have been abused and just "wished she had found the evidence needed to sue them into oblivion").

I don't know who I can talk to about this. No one in my local circle of friends knows I'm into the ABDL thing (nor would any of them understand or want to understand what it is without being grossed out and disowning me). I confessed to a couple of friends in a furry Discord I'm in, and they have been compassionate and accepting, but I don't know them in person. As for others who are ABDL, I don't really interact with others in that community (outside of maybe a couple of babyfur meet & greets at some of the fur cons I've been to).

I just feel alone, living a double life with a weird attachment towards something that feels like it hurts me more than helps me. And I don't know what I should do about it, and no one to really talk to about it. I tried seeking psychological help for it, and while it has helped me get over the feelings of shame, it still hasn't changed my desires all that much. I still wear diapers and I still find myself clinging to these infantile desires, and I don't know what to do. Should I just accept this ABDL thing as just who I am, despite it hurting me and keeping me alone, or should I keep trying to free myself from it?

Anonymous

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Dear Furiend,

Thank you for having the courage to write about this sensitive matter and your experience with ABDL (for any of my readers who don't know, ABDL = Adult Baby Diaper Lover).

It's important to first note that--similar to the confusion outsiders have with furries--this is not a sexual fetish. Rather, it is an outward expression of an inner emotional and psychological desire to return to a simpler time and also to feel cared for. It is a desire to destress from the complications of adult life. It is easy to see that you, as a very responsible person with a career and material successes, probably deal with a lot of stress from the burden of many adult responsibilities. In this way, ABDL shares something with many furries in that this practice is a way to forget about things like bills, taxes, work deadlines, rent, health care, politics, etc. etc. Now, ABDL should be distinguished from infantilism in that the latter is about fantasizing that one is a baby while ABDL can just mean that one indulges in wearing diapers and having other childish possessions such as plushies (another parallel here is plushophiles vs. ABDL; again, not the same thing), having a pacifier, wearing onesies, drinking from a baby bottle, etc. It sounds like you are both ABDL and some infantilism.

You find the above comforting because these things reduce your stress from the workaday world. Unfortunately for you, indulging in your little fantasy is bringing up an early trauma of being abused in a daycare facility. This is really sad that your one pressure valve to relieve stress can in and of itself cause stress because of what happened to you as a little kid! 

You say you sought help from a psychologist, but it didn't help much. I believe that is because you were focused on your feelings of shame about diapers. What you should have explored with the therapist was your childhood trauma. This is definitely something you need to confront and resolve. If, with the help of a trained counselor, you can overcome this trauma, it should cause the panic attacks to go away. It might even cause the ABDL to go away, too, if the desire to be an infant is an attempt by your inner psyche to erase the traumatic experience and replace it with a more comforting image of what your young childhood should have been.

But if the ABDL doesn't go away, that's fine, too. You really should seek out (again) a support system of some sort, though. You might try some babyfur groups within the furry community to start like this one. I also found this website called Tykables that is kind of interesting. It is a merchant that caters to the ABDL community, so it is, indeed, selling products, but it also has social websites at Facebook, X, and Instagram as well as a YouTube channel and newsletter.

Finally, because at least part of your attraction to ABDL may have something to do with the stress of adult life, I think it would be a good idea to explore other ways to relax. Exercise (swimming, jogging) are excellent, as well as meditation, yoga, nature hikes, biking, and so on. You might also spend more time exploring other facets of the furry community that are not about babyfurs, such as gaming, fursuiting, movies, cartoons, writing, and art.

So, in summary, I would recommend seeking a good therapist who specializes in childhood trauma; I would recommend finding some social support of like-minded people; and I would recommend finding other avenues for de-stressing yourself from work and daily life.

Bottom line, though, is that if you are not hurting anyone, you should not feel ashamed of things you like to do or wear or be. Definitely try to resolve your childhood trauma, but other than that, you're okay.

Bear Hugs!
Papabear