Thank you for sharing. I also was a "luker' on the forum for sometime. I too hid my "secret" for many years.
One thing to think about if you can ... when I read your post you sound like a "Highly Senstive Person". This is not a negative term but a positive term. The term refers to a special trait.
Do a search on "Highly Senstive Person" and do a questionnaire (if you haven't already). If it works out that you are, it would be worth you looking into further.
The book "The Highly Senstive Person" helped me understand myself sooo much. It made me see my qualities in a positive light and had some great info on relationships, dating, falling in and out of love quickly, how to balance being "in" and "out". HSP's are artistic and moved my the arts, they hate crowds, fall in love heavily and many things specific to the trait.
Let me know how you go. I'd be interested to know.