I know I am not alone in declaring that the last two years have not lived up to expectations. The worldwide pandemic has left many of us feeling isolated, fractured and surrounded by chaos. The longer we have had to deal with COVID-19 the more I have started to see my issues with anxiety come back.
After discovering in 2011 that I’m HIV-Positive, I started having panic attacks and general anxiety. The attacks got so bad that I stopped going to work and class, and I stopped reaching out to friends. Eventually, after much therapy, medication, losing relationships and gaining weight, I was able to get my anxiety in check. The full-fledged panic attacks stopped and the constant buzzing I felt in my chest, arms and legs went away.
It got to a point where I was able to stop taking the medication and rely on techniques I learned from my therapist whenever I would feel that feeling creeping back in. Unfortunately, those techniques are working less and less these days.
With it now being 2022, and with everyone doing the whole “new year, new you” thing, I think my new year’s resolution is going to be to repair my mental health from the damage done to it from this pandemic. My typical resolutions revolve around losing weight, getting healthy and finding a husband; all of which I still intend to do this year but instead of starting with those, I think getting my mental health back on track will be the resolution that will help all the other ones along.
I’m pretty sure I was in the same boat as most when the lockdowns, quarantines and toilet paper shortages started. Through all of the horrible things that came with the pandemic, I was elated that I was able to take a break from going to events and work from home. It was like a mini vacation in some aspects, but the longer that break went on it turned into anti-social isolation where I forgot how to interact with people. That piled on top of the fact that I’m a hypochondriac and it was only a matter of time before my old friend started buzzing again.
As we all tried “getting back to normal” when the vaccines came, I started to feel guilty about all of the people, places and events I didn’t get to during the quarantine that I started to say yes to everything, leaving no time for me to work on rebuilding a personal social life that was left damaged in the pandemic. And it isn’t just me. So many leaders and activists in this community are feeling this guilt and are saying yes to everything which is starting to cause burnout.
I say, as we move into a new year, we get comfortable being able to say no. Saying no because you need time to yourself to decompress does not make you a selfish person. It just means you recognize that you need to take care of you. Let’s also make it ok in 2022 to set boundaries when it comes to work, community activities and social engagements. Some in the community are way too comfortable calling or messaging at 9 or 10 o’clock at night to discuss something that can wait until the next morning. And that advice goes for you and your own work too. You being able to respect your own separation of work life and private life will go a long way to maintaining good mental health.
Maintaining good health, both mentally and physically, is the best new year resolution you can set for yourself. But finding understanding health care providers can be difficult sometimes if you are a member of the LGBTQ community. So in this first issue of the year, we take a look at health care clinics that specialize in affirming your sexual orientation and gender identity.
In this issue, we look at health care facilities throughout Central Florida and Tampa Bay and ask why these types of clinics are important to have and what types of services each of them offer.
In Arts & Entertainment, we chat with openly gay music legend Andy Bell of the synthpop duo Erasure and transgender pianist Sara Davis Buechner about her upcoming performances with The Florida Orchestra.
In news, we highlight Ashley Figueroa as she is named executive director of the Central Florida chapter of the Gay Officers Action League, look at the recent closure of Stonewall Bar in Orlando and talk to Sarasota Pride as it plans its return.
