Specifically the fear of violence, discrimination, and losing your rights to an increasingly oppressive regime? I know that my coping methods aren't healthy or good since they revolved around trying to ignore it, until it became unignorable. So how do you cope with this?

I'd like to find some more strategies so I don't give in to the urge to drink the fear and pain away again.

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[–] LassCalibur@beehaw.org 4 points 4 days ago

You are making the right choice to not abuse alcohol or drugs! Many queer folks end up in rehabs or worse, the "justice" system, by following such a path. I highly recommend Recovery Dharma! Your desire to not "give in" is ample reason to take a look at their free book, try some meditations, or drop in on a zoom meeting. Loving kindness or compassion would be a good start if you're not familiar with meditation, as they both help with self-compassion. Meditation, mindfulness, and exercise help me a lot. Yoga and sound healing are good too. Friendships help! As dandelion says, having a dream that you work towards can hold the horrors at bay. Your goal should be to actively cultivate psychological resilience. I have more confidence in the resiliency of queer folks than the regime.

So, my advice is to make a SMART goal---one which is specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely---to build psychological resilience by practicing mindfulness meditation. Coincidentally it just so happens that making realistic plans and following through on them also builds resilience as well, so start making more of them.

Hopefully this is of some usefulness to you! You're welcome to message me if you like!