It made me

Depressed+Anxious

How I did it: My friends and family doubted me, so I doubted myself.  I I became so depressed that I could hardly function.  learned many facts about sexual orientation all of which threatened the pre-conceived notions of sexuality held by my friends, family, coworkers, neighbors, and myself, some of whom were seriously threatened.  I received death threats, I was assaulted, and I was fired for being "out" and for standing up for myself.  I lost three good jobs, the support of a third of my family, and half of my friends.  Even now, while I suspect the worst may be in the past, the loss of momentum makes the tasks of rebuiding all these relationships complicated and just really hard. 

I watched maybe 50 movies about gay + lesbian characters.  I read 5 books, and a number of book chapters and studies in order to understand what Homophobia is, and the history of Homosexuality; to understand the nature of sexual orientation, since I was just wrong in half of what I knew and ignorant of most of the big picture; to understand tangentially related issues in factual terms, such as parental abuse and pedophelia, since the common myths held by my family were that gay people had been abused in some way either parentally or sexually. 

Then I found a confidential support group in the community where I could ask questions and not know for sure and not be judged or demeaned (although I was hit on a few times). 

Exercise and meditation became important, so I could quiet my thoughts and learn to observe myself.  Meditation, I believe, helped me immensely.  I've nearly converted to Buddhism. 

In the last 4 years, learning how to manage my time while overwhelmed from anti-gay bullying would have been much more difficult without detailed information on Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs.  Time Management and Prioritization are now vital in my life.  Read how I did it… 11 months ago