Your thoughts repeat themselves in circles and sometimes race out of control, worrying, searching for answers, and going over conversations. They grip your mind in an inescapable preoccupation that takes possession of you. Obsessions are driven by fear and pain. It can be fear of being abandoned or rejected, fear of being unlovable, or fear that your loved one will either destroy you or him- or herself. Bottled up emotion steals you away from the present — minutes and hours add up to days. Your life disappears. The consequences can be devastating.
