Suffered. I mean really suffered,.
When I would forget that I even had that awful space, someone would inevitably rudely remind me, or a picture would shock me back into reality. I was never asked out in high school, never smiled in pictures and rarely every took them. I know I sound dramatic, but having a gap literally ruined my self esteem, and led to a self-destructive path of not caring about myself. I became an emotional eater as well and packed on about 40 extra pounds. As an adult, I just stopped caring about myself and my looks because I realized that I could never feel confident with the gap in my mouth. Even though I am relatively attractive, despite messed up teeth.
I always dreaded never getting married, or getting married and having that gap in my wedding photos.
Its like having body dysmorphia- I never really felt that the gap was "me"
In January I vowed to change myself, inside and out. I began working out and eating healthy. I really thank God that I was able to get braces, that was a part of my wellness plan also. I have had them on for a little over 2 months and since then my gap had all but closed (only an extremely tiny sliver left)! I am so elated at this point. I know this is "only the beginning" as my ortho would put it. Also, I have also lost 35 pounds since January and I feel absolutely blessed!
The irony of this whole gap situation is that : my family didn't even notice that the gap closed! Nor could they recall how my teeth actually looked. Then when I showed them my before picture of my teeth, to my chagrin, they all began to make rude comments about my gap and how large and unattractive it "was". Yet when I was on a quest to get braces, most of them had originally discouraged me. :-/ That is truly strange and sort of hurt my feelings. I wonder what they really thought about me when I had the gap *shrug*
I suppose the point here is that you have to do what is going to make you the most comfortable. I believe we only get one life, one experience on this earth and it is not to suffer or feel bad about ourselves. If you are unhappy with your teeth for whatever reason (or anything about your appearance or personality) and you have the power to change it, you should. Do not let anyone persuade you, because for all you know that person could be lying to you about how they really feel concerning your appearance.
All the money, pain and time put into having braces is definitely worth it, so if you have a diastema and you are on the fence, I say take that plunge. I have taken more pictures in the past week WITH braces on and minus the gap than I have in the past 5 years. I am even thinking of doing some modeling in the near future.
I had to get many, many fillings and an extraction of a front lower incisor... that was incredibly traumatic for me so this had not been an easy journey so far ...went through lots of pain...but it has only been 2 months and I can already see that my life is changing before my eyes.
*** pain I swear I had an out of body experience. I was looking up at the fluorescent lights going "WHY THE HECK AM I DOING This!!!".When I looked in the mirror afterwards, it's just SO worth it. I just feel more adult, sexier, fiercer 
I think I might tackle public speaking next.That ALWAYS used to mortify me since I felt people were just staring at my teeth
If i pass these genes on to my future kids, I vow that I wont make them go through high school with a diastema! I feel like a different person as well