First, sorry I took so long replying. RL sometimes...ugh. 9_9
Second...oh, hon. I can practically hear the anxiety coming out in how you phrased your post. I know all too well how easy it is to feel like you're being annoying when you have problems with anxiety, and how hard it is to believe when people tell you that you aren't, but I'm going to try anyway. You aren't a bother, and you certainly aren't stupid! It's a completely valid question, and I wouldn't have offered to answer these things if I didn't want people to ask them. :)
Now, as to your actual question. Clothing and other methods we use in presenting ourselves to society can carry HUGE psychological weight. On a day-to-day basis we make decisions about what we wear to make ourselves feel comfortable and safe, or attractive and sexually desirable, or powerful and confident...or any number of other things. And cosplaying takes this idea a step further. Because when you dress as a character who I would assume has some kind of personal relevance to you, you're sort of symbolically ascribing that character's persona to yourself. And these are usually characters who are special in some way. Heroic, strong, confident, charismatic, attractive...or heck, even if the character you're cosplaying is a creepy monster (the legions of Pyramid Head cosplayers out there come to mind), being shocking or fearsome is powerful, too. When you dress like a character, you can start to feel like that character. I've experienced this. Particularly with my Sentinel Prime cosplay. If you're unfamiliar with the character, he's arrogant as fuck. Boundlessly overconfident. And I am...well...not. But I find that Sentinel's ego starts seeping into the way I carry myself when I'm dressed as him.
Cosplaying gives you the opportunity to be something other than yourself for a little while, and that can be immensely freeing. It's also a way of putting yourself out there and asking for attention in an environment that is - usually - pretty safe and accepting. If you have social anxiety, a costume becomes an overture to conversation with other fans. You feel shy about approaching them? Hey, you're in a costume! If they're in your fandom, they'll come to you! "Oh cool, you're dressed as character X! Hey, what did you think about that episode where Y happened?" and so on and so forth. And a costume is a very visible labor of love. You put time, money, effort, and ingenuity into cosplaying. And that effort gets NOTICED. And complimented! And that can be such a validating thing.
So yeah, cosplay can be extremely empowering. Obviously individual mileage and experiences may vary, but off the top of my head those are some of the reasons I can think of why you would experience a sense of security in a costume. And hey, if it helps you and it's something you enjoy, keep at it. Don't let your doubts about yourself get you down. If anyone cares that much about your costume or what your body looks like in it, they need to get a fucking life and stop being a hater. :P
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Second...oh, hon. I can practically hear the anxiety coming out in how you phrased your post. I know all too well how easy it is to feel like you're being annoying when you have problems with anxiety, and how hard it is to believe when people tell you that you aren't, but I'm going to try anyway. You aren't a bother, and you certainly aren't stupid! It's a completely valid question, and I wouldn't have offered to answer these things if I didn't want people to ask them. :)
Now, as to your actual question. Clothing and other methods we use in presenting ourselves to society can carry HUGE psychological weight. On a day-to-day basis we make decisions about what we wear to make ourselves feel comfortable and safe, or attractive and sexually desirable, or powerful and confident...or any number of other things. And cosplaying takes this idea a step further. Because when you dress as a character who I would assume has some kind of personal relevance to you, you're sort of symbolically ascribing that character's persona to yourself. And these are usually characters who are special in some way. Heroic, strong, confident, charismatic, attractive...or heck, even if the character you're cosplaying is a creepy monster (the legions of Pyramid Head cosplayers out there come to mind), being shocking or fearsome is powerful, too. When you dress like a character, you can start to feel like that character. I've experienced this. Particularly with my Sentinel Prime cosplay. If you're unfamiliar with the character, he's arrogant as fuck. Boundlessly overconfident. And I am...well...not. But I find that Sentinel's ego starts seeping into the way I carry myself when I'm dressed as him.
Cosplaying gives you the opportunity to be something other than yourself for a little while, and that can be immensely freeing. It's also a way of putting yourself out there and asking for attention in an environment that is - usually - pretty safe and accepting. If you have social anxiety, a costume becomes an overture to conversation with other fans. You feel shy about approaching them? Hey, you're in a costume! If they're in your fandom, they'll come to you! "Oh cool, you're dressed as character X! Hey, what did you think about that episode where Y happened?" and so on and so forth. And a costume is a very visible labor of love. You put time, money, effort, and ingenuity into cosplaying. And that effort gets NOTICED. And complimented! And that can be such a validating thing.
So yeah, cosplay can be extremely empowering. Obviously individual mileage and experiences may vary, but off the top of my head those are some of the reasons I can think of why you would experience a sense of security in a costume. And hey, if it helps you and it's something you enjoy, keep at it. Don't let your doubts about yourself get you down. If anyone cares that much about your costume or what your body looks like in it, they need to get a fucking life and stop being a hater. :P