Dear Anita,

I can see how fear drives behavior in a way that someone else would consider crazy. I’ve experienced it myself and I’ve seen it in other people. The other thing I realize is that I do react fearfully to my thoughts and when I try to express these “crazy” concerns, my girlfriend is often not understanding, but this is exactly how anxiety presents itself. I know for a fact I do have a degree of OCD because my thoughts can be enough to scare me when thinking about scenarios with my girlfriend. I did speak to my mother about increasing my dose of anti-depressants or changing medicines, maybe even getting something for the short term or when anxiety is overwhelming.

My problem is thinking of things that I fear, and believing they have potential to happen. It’s difficult to separate anxious and inaccurate thoughts from normal and realistic thoughts. I do know that I’m going to have a serious conversation with my girlfriend about our behaviors towards each other, in reaction to fear or not meeting expectations, because I’m under a lot of stress as is with my schoolwork and future.

Scott