Afraid I may not be straight? Confused and in need of advice

Hey Noah,

Yes, you made perfect sense, no worries there, but you are also right in that the practicalities are your main concern and take time to work out. This is true for most people, to be honest. How much to be open how much to keep to yourself. Finding time alone to do what you want to do without upsetting anyone you may live with. All these things take time to figure out.

Regarding talking to a health professional, I think you will find that almost all is being done online these days due to the pandemic. Many will do Zoom or similar. Or if you don't want your face to be seen, then a phone chat also should be possible with any number of counsellors. The difficulty is the cost as most are private.

Always free is the Switchboard 0300 330 0630 between 10am and 10pm but you may have to be patient as they can be busy. Recorded messages will tell you what their situation is. It is run by an expert bunch of experienced volunteers but they are not necessarily health professionals.

A very good outfit is The Gay Man's Therapy. They are private but do run different levels of fees depending on income. You can email them initially but a first assessment requires a payment after which the assessor decides which therapist would help you best. www.gaymenstherapy.org.uk

What is Sexuality - If you haven't already seen this, I think it is helpful to a lot of people puzzling about their feelings.  www.outlife.org.uk/what-is-sexuality  Please explore the OutLife site - there are a lot of useful tips and guidance to be found.

As a practical thing may be you could privately write down lists to help you decide what you can do to improve your situation and therefore improve your anxiety?  Hopefully, you no longer feel alone in what you are experiencing - now all you have to do is decide your practical steps forward.  I always think there are no solutions, only decisions.  All the best.  Simon.