SCRIPT CHECK · 60 SECONDS
Five quick questions show how often it appears, how believable it feels, and what it makes you avoid. You’ll get one private next step.
This is not a diagnosis and there is no pass or fail. It measures the current frequency, credibility, and behavioral cost of “Their friends their own age are a threat to us”, including the private rule underneath it: If they have friends their own age, they'll eventually realize they want someone their own age instead of me. The clock is running. The only way to prevent this is to make sure they don't see those friends too often, or to withdraw myself…
QUIET
“Their friends their own age are a threat to us” appears, but it rarely gets the final say. Keep this line available for higher-pressure moments: “The clock is something I hear because I'm afraid—not because they're actually counting down.”
PRESENT
“Their friends their own age are a threat to us” wins some small decisions before you catch it. Your useful interruption is: “A friendship across the age gap isn't evidence of a future departure.”
ACTIVE
“Their friends their own age are a threat to us” is shaping action often enough to deserve a deliberate counterexample. Start privately and concretely: Write down three moments from the past week when the threat felt highest. For each one, note what actually happened next. Did the feared outcome occur, or did the person come home and nothing had changed?
DOMINANT
Right now, “Their friends their own age are a threat to us” is steering many of the moments you measured. That is a pattern reading, not a diagnosis or character verdict. Begin with one reversible receipt: Write down three moments from the past week when the threat felt highest. For each one, note what actually happened next. Did the feared outcome occur, or did the person come home and nothing had changed?