Accepting yourself as who you are is difficult. Everybody across the globe has insecurities, secrets and some trouble believing that the "real" them will ever be fully accepted by their friends, family, peers and significant others. Everybody has secrets they feel will alter the way others think about them, and everybody has things about themself which they think are abnormal. It is these things which get in the way of self-acceptance.
So, what if the abnormal thing about you revolves around diapers? You may be an adult baby, a diaper lover, a babyfur, a sissy, a little girl, or a caretaker, but whichever of these you fall into it is likely that at some point in your past or present, you have been struck with the worry that this is not normal, that there may be something wrong with you, and that this is not a side of you that is easy to accept.
So, how can you begin to accept yourself as somebody who enjoys diapers?
Well, the first thing you need to accept is that wearing diapers is not wrong. It does not make you dirty or disgusting. It does not mean that you have an interest in real babies. It does not mean that you are some sort of pervert. It just means that you have found an object, or a way of regressing, which offers you something in return, whether that is sexual gratification, security, comfort, a stress-relief, or something else. So long as your interest in diapers is not causing you or anybody else harm, then it cannot be seen as wrong.
Once you have accepted that your interest is not wrong, then you need to come to terms with the fact that it is unusual. Enjoyment from wearing and using diapers is a little weird and outside of the norm. It is somewhat strange, but that is okay. Learn to laugh at yourself, and say yes, this is a little weird, and to people outside of the interest I probably do look odd dressed in a diaper, but so what? I like it, it harms nobody, it makes me happy and that is what is important.
Remember that everybody has strange and unexplainable interests; it's just that some are more publicly known about, and thus acceptable, than others. There are certainly stranger things to be interested in than diapers, which a quick Google search will prove.
Any interest will seem a little odd to those who don’t have it. For example, to me, having an interest in cars is completely unexplainable and I find them incredibly boring, but lots of people have an interest in cars that goes much deeper than just using them to get from A to B, and that's okay. Nobody thinks that's strange, even though a car is just a very expensive inanimate object.
Being interested in diapers is just the same - many people will find having an interest in diapers and other things they see as being for "babies" as strange. They don't understand it because they don't share the same interest, but that’s fine. Just because something is unusual does not mean it is wrong. Unfortunately, an interest in diapers is just not as mainstream as one in cars, but when you unpick the interest, and people’s reasons behind it, there actually isn’t much difference between an interest in diapers and an interest in anything else.
The third thing to realise is that just because this interest is strange does not mean you are on your own. You are by no means the first person to have this interest, and you are not the first person to feel like you do. Lots of people share an interest in diapers with you; it's just that because this subject is considered taboo hardly anybody talks about it unless it's behind the safety of a computer screen. There are hundreds of other weird fetishes and interests out there as well, and although the majority of people you meet won't be adult babies or diaper lovers, a proportion of them probably do have some other fetish or interest that, were they to tell you about, you would find weird.
Realising that you are not alone, and finding other people who share your interest, will really help. The fact that you are here on the ADISC website is great, and if you are struggling to accept yourself and haven’t already done so, sign up and become a member. Talking to other people here will really help you to realise that there are other regular people who like diapers, and that the vast majority of us are people with regular jobs, friends, families, partners and, perhaps most importantly, lives and interests outside of diapers.
Whilst it is always comforting to meet other people who share your interest in diapers, and to finally have people who you can confide in about this side of yourself, the best way to begin accepting yourself is often to find people who you share interests with outside of diapers as well, and it is possible to strike up such relationships on these forums. Have a look on the introduction and off-topic boards and see if you can find anyone with similar interests, look in the groups section of ADISC and join some groups which match your other interests, say hello to them, and perhaps send a PM or visitor message. ADISC also has quite an active chatroom, where the topic is usually completely unrelated to diapers, and this is a good place to begin to meet people.
In these ways you will be able to find people who share your diaper interest, but with whom you can talk to about things outside of diapers. Of course sometimes you will talk about diapers and other things related to your interests, but it is the conversations about regular things – films, TV, school and their interests – that will likely help you to realise that liking diapers is something you share with a lot of other regular people. This will help to reaffirm that, just like these people, you are just a regular person who happens to like diapers. Once you begin to see other people who like diapers as friends, and realise that they are just regular people like any other friends you have outside of this community, it will be much easier to accept yourself as a regular person who happens to like diapers as well.
As you try to come to accept your interest in diapers, it is important to keep reassuring yourself that this is who you are. You likely did not choose this interest, and it is probably not something that you can change, and, it not something should you have to do. It is not abnormal to have a fetish or interest in something. Some fetishes/interests are of course more common than others, but that doesn't make yours wrong or weird. You will probably have this interest forever. There may be times in your life when your desires to wear diapers and other things revolving around this interest become stronger, and there may be times in your life where they go away for a while, but there is no point trying to fight or suppress this side of yourself, as such will only make you unhappy. Embrace the fact that you have this interest, and that it is part of what makes you you.
There may, of course, be times when you are really struggling to accept this side of yourself, or where you feel like it is becoming a problem. In these cases, seek help. There will almost certainly be members on ADISC who have felt, or still are, feeling exactly as you are. There will be people who are able to offer advice specific to your situation. At these times use the community to your advantage, and know that accepting yourself as somebody who likes diapers does get easier; part of accepting who you are will come just through the experience and insight getting older brings with it.
Finally, understand that there will always be people who will not accept or understand this interest, but that does not make you in the wrong. There are people who just will not accept people who are different from them, and most minority groups, including homosexual people, single parents, people with disabilities, and people from ethnic minorities, have to deal with those who will treat them with contempt and with a lack of respect and those who will say all kinds of ill-informed and unkind things. There will likely always be people who refuse to understand why an adult would like diapers, who think it is wrong or disgusting. There will likely always be television shows and other parts of the media which make fun of us or portray us in a negative light. However, bear in mind that these people do not know what they are talking about. As difficult as it may feel to come across an internet post portraying us badly or ridiculing us, learn to ignore it. Realise that they simply don’t know what they’re talking about.
You know that what you are doing is not wrong. You know that what you are doing harms nobody. You know that you are not alone. You know that there are thousands of other regular people, just like you, out there. You know where you can turn when you need advice. You know that this is just a small part of what makes you, you, and as long as you know all of that, accepting yourself, and ignoring what others say, shouldn’t be too hard.
