Purging -- Part 2

Last month I wrote about how I have emotional attachments to everything in my closet.  I'm thinking there are many others like me.

Occasionally I am asked if I consider crossdressing an addiction.  Admittedly, there are some addiction characteristics that are similar to crossdressing characteristics.  The #1 similar characteristic is our inability to "stop".  Purging is not a permanent solution because sooner or later, the crossdresser will start obtaining clothes for his closet.  I have been told that if I cannot stop, then I may have an addiction and should be treated accordingly. Ha!  Good luck with that!

The one characteristic that is VERY different is our emotional attachment to our clothes.  Purging is like throwing away part of us, part of who we are.  Any purge does not remove the emotional attachments, the memories.  I remember the dresses, their color, their material, in one of my purges.

An addict has no emotional attachment to their addiction.  That is, the alcoholic is not sentimental about the bottle of booze they just finished.  The drug addict is not emotional about the drugs they just used. The food addict has no emotional attachment to the food they eat.

I have heard about one crossdresser who throws away EVERYTHING, clothes, wig, makeup, after their dressing session is finished.  Eventually the desire or need to crossdress grows and grows until it is satisfied.  This sounds like a very expensive way to crossdress. Even though everything is tossed, this doesn't mean there isn't an emotional attachment.  

I think this concept of "emotional attachment" is applicable to only a segment of the trans community.  For example, I doubt anyone with a fetish has an emotional attachment to the item of the fetish. Also, I don't recall any researchers discussing this but I may be wrong.

Finally, I have no idea WHY there is for some an emotional attachment to clothes.  There may be some strong neural pathways that crossdressing creates, uses, and reuses in the brain.