Thanks for all the nice replies. It's such a relief to write what I have written here and get kind, understanding responses. I'm so used to feeling like *anything* I share with others that even hints at unhappiness is going to be greeted with skepticism, anger, annoyance, judgment, etc.

I have hundreds of Facebook "friends" due to various musical connections, but only a few people I know very well. Any time I have posted a comment to FB revealing anything deeper about myself I wake up the next day only to realize that I'm going to have to respond to a bunch of people who are borderline attacking me for saying anything truthful about myself...almost as though they realized that something I said about myself was true for their lives as well and rather than admit to themselves that they might be a little bit like me, they criticize instead.

So, thanks for being understanding and non-judgemental. I thought I was going to have to put up a shield even here, but it looks like I've finally found a place where kind people exist!