How has coming out affected your life/career choices? Did it magically take away your depression and anxiety making you more resilient to outside stress? I'm still not out, and, well, barely out to myself. In fact I feel like two different people: one before the revelation and one after. I need to decide on which career path to take and I am wondering which person to follow. I'm a neurotic person who gets his energy from being around other people but I also keep a lot in and it is draining to be nice all the time when I am moody which is frequently. There are days, where I hate everyone and I'm very angry and I think that is just who I am. Although they have been frequent recently and stressful jobs just bring it out of me.
Only have a couple months of experience so take this with a grain of salt...definitely more in touch with my emotions. In fact it has felt like something of a rollercoaster of ups and downs, but far better than the flatlining depression I have had for a good part of my life. My public persona? For the few who know, I'm much more vulnerable and open. I'm worried about seeming too self-consumed, so am working at listening and being available to them, but can't say of my success at that. At the moment my stress tolerance is pretty low, but attributing it to it being so early in the process.
I experienced the perfect storm of intense work and family stress combined with suppression of my sexuality, which put me over the edge for anxiety and depression. Now that I'm out I feel that I have more buffer since my sexuality is no longer repressed, so I am more resilient to stress than before. Some folks on EC still experience anxiety and depression even though they are out, so your mileage may vary.
I feel coming out has it's ups and downs for me right now to be honest. Today it was stressful in my home because my husband misunderstood something I said. We'll work it out later, but he's mad about it and giving me little support when he's been supportive since I came out to him. As far as work goes. I'm a completely different person at work because I work with very sick people and can't bring my self into the picture. My work is about my client's not about me. I hope that helps.
