Hi Mom. I know you’re ashamed of my OCD. It’s better now that I live on my own, but job stress has pushed me into a rough patch.

I was mutilating my nails, so I finally got acrylics and I’m keeping them up. What started as a bad habit learned from you turned into an obsession with keeping them smooth. It hurt, Mom. I was so sick of the hurt, and of being embarrassed about my nails. Especially since I started learning ASL.

I hope this is the first step towards getting it under control. I’ve also started antidepressants, and even though I’m not responding well to them yet, I’m going to be patient. I want to feel better, physically and mentally.