1. Do not take hours to text back.
Answer them whenever you have the chance — even if that text is to say that you are swamped with work and probably won’t be able to get back to them for a little while. Otherwise, they are going to jump to the worst case scenario inside their heads. They are going to think you are ignoring them, you are annoyed by them, you don’t want anything to do with them.
2. Do not send mixed signals.
If you do, they are going to spend every second of their day trying to figure out what you meant. They are not going to rest until they run through every scenario in their heads. The doubt is slowly going to drive them insane.
3. Do not give one-word replies.
If you are enjoying your conversation with them, then try to keep it going. If you answer with LOLs and Ks then they are going to assume you are mad. They are going to assume they said something wrong. They are going to assume you are finished with the conversation and don’t want to deal with them any longer.
4. Do not avoid giving answers.
If they ask you a question, look them in the eyes and tell the truth. If you dodge certain topics and skirt around your answers, they are going to become suspicious. They are going to assume you are hiding something. They are going to stop trusting you.
5. Do not judge them.
Do not make them feel like they are crazy or overemotional. You are allowed to tell them they have nothing to worry about when they express their concerns to you, but do not act like they are psycho for feeling the way they feel. They are entitled to their emotions.
6. Do not keep secrets.
You don’t have to hand them your passwords, but if you never let them touch your computer and keep your phone far away from where they can see it, they are going to wonder what you are hiding. They are going to assume you have secrets that could end the relationship.
7. Do not come home late without warning.
Give them a quick call to let them know that you got stuck in traffic or that your boss asked you to work extra hours. Otherwise they are going to be wondering whether you are out cheating with somebody else or whether you got in a deadly car accident and are never going to come home again.
8. Do not avoid talking about your past.
Do not get mad when they bring up something from the past or annoyed when they talk about something far in the future. Overthinkers have a hard time living in the moment. They are always going to be worried about something that happened a long time ago or something that might happen soon — and they will want to discuss it.
9. Do not get frustrated with them.
They don’t want to overthink. It causes them stress. It makes them paranoid. It creates problems where none exists. Don’t make things even worse for them by throwing a fit over how much they worry. Try to see where they are coming from. Try to understand what they are going through.
