Is your anxiety level hitting higher notes than a Mariah Carey power ballad?
Well, you’re not alone. (And yes, that reference may have just dated us)
But learning how to deal with stress is fundamental for our community.
Real Talk About Stress Management
Before we dive into our collective pool of anxiety, let’s talk about what’s actually happening in our bodies when stressful news hits.
Stress isn’t just that thing making you refresh the news every three minutes. It’s a physiological response that’s been keeping our community alive and fighting for generations.
Remember how previous LGBTQIA+ generations handled stress? No, not the ones at Stonewall – we’re talking about the quiet revolutionaries of our society.
The ones who, without them, we may still be living under a rock.
Think of The Violet Quill Club’s quiet influence on gay literature…
Well, much like that club, today’s LGBTQIA+ mental health advocates are modernizing how we think about wellness.
Here’s what this new era of LGBTQIA+ mental health looks like:
- Therapists who don’t just tolerate our identities but celebrate them
- Support groups that understand the intersection of personal and political trauma
- Wellness practices that incorporate our cultural traditions and chosen family structures
- Mental health resources that speak to all parts of our community, not just those with privilege
But why is all this possible – when just a few short decades ago, people were afraid to interact with us out of fear of catching HIV/AIDS? (Yeah, the 80s really weren’t that long ago…)
The Evolution of LGBTQ+ Affirmative Mental Healthcare
The transformation of LGBTQ+ mental healthcare represents one of the most significant shifts in therapeutic practice of the 20th century. In the early days, practitioners primarily encountered clients struggling with deep-seated trauma, profound grief, and what we now recognize as internalized homophobia.
The simple act of reframing these struggles as responses to societal prejudice rather than personal failings often marked the first step toward healing for many in our community. A breakthrough moment for our community came in 1973 with the removal of homosexuality from the DSM.
Before this, being openly gay could end a mental health professional’s career – illustrated dramatically when Dr. John Fryer had to testify as “Dr. Henry Anonymous,” wearing a mask to protect his career and license. Post-1973, LGBTQ+ mental health professionals began emerging from the shadows, eager to reshape their field.
This liberation sparked a revolution in therapeutic approaches. The field had to rebuild from the ground up – after all, a profession previously focused on “curing” homosexuality had no framework for helping gay individuals embrace their authentic selves and build fulfilling lives.
Pioneer practitioners like Don Clark (author of “Loving Someone Gay,” 1977) and Betty Berzon (“Positively Gay,” 1979) began developing new therapeutic methodologies centered on validation and empowerment.
By the early 1980s, this approach crystallized into what became known as “gay-affirmative therapy” – a therapeutic framework that validated our sexual orientation while helping some in our community process and overcome the impacts of societal oppression.
Over the decades, these principles have expanded to embrace the full spectrum of gender and sexual diversity, evolving through the dedicated work of LGBTQ+ practitioners who understood firsthand the unique challenges their clients faced.
Let That Sink In For A Moment
In just 50 years, we’ve gone from wearing masks to testify about our basic humanity to reshaping entire therapeutic frameworks.
Our community didn’t just survive; we revolutionized mental health care.
If they could do that in the face of outright homosexual criminalization and the AIDS crisis, imagine what we can do now.
Every time you feel overwhelmed by today’s political climate, remember that you’re standing on the shoulders of giants who turned their pain into progress.
They didn’t fight for survival; they fought for your right to thrive.

How to Stay Sane When You Feel Like You’re Losing It
So, how do we honor this legacy while taking care of ourselves?
Here’s your action plan.
1. Practice Radical Self-Awareness
Notice when you’re doomscrolling and ask yourself: “What am I actually looking for here?” Pay attention to your body’s stress signals (that tension headache isn’t from your new hairstyle). Track your emotional triggers – knowledge is power, especially about yourself. Above all, if something stresses you out, kick it to the curb because, ultimately, you’re in control of your emotions.
2. Embrace Your Community’s Wisdom
Connect with LGBTQIA+ elders who’ve weathered previous storms. Previous generations of LGBTQIA+ individuals offer a wealth of information if you’re just willing to lend an ear. Additionally, these people would love for you to share your own experiences. But don’t stop there – go tell your story to others who are younger than you. Your story might be someone else’s survival guide… While you’re doing all this, you will definitely learn about our community’s history of resistance and resilience – and you may have a wake-up call that, despite what the media tells you, helps you discover we aren’t a fragile group – we’re a force to be reckoned with.
3. Build Your Calming Toolkit
Don’t wait for disaster to strike if you’re feeling overwhelmed and undervalued. Find an affirming therapist before you need one. Create emergency self-care protocols for high-stress news days and develop a support network that understands both your identity and your anxieties.
4. Turn Anxiety into Action
If you’re feeling stressed about politics, you should channel political stress into community involvement. Transform fear into fuel for positive change – and if you take our advice on the tips before this one, we guarantee you’ll see why this is so important right now. Don’t be afraid to use your voice, but practice sustainable activism.
Above all, remember…
Your anxiety isn’t weakness – it’s your body and mind telling you something important. Trying to eliminate these feelings shouldn’t be you aim, you need to learn to harness them, just like our predecessors did. They transformed their struggles into progress, and so can we – we owe it to those who will come after us.
We just wanna finish this story off by saying…
You’re doing just fine.
Keep going.
We’ve got you.
You’ve got you.
The community’s got you.
So push ahead full force and live without fear because – well, what good is feeling worried going to do?
What do you think?
Let us know in the comments below.
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