Hi, I'm The Duke. I was recommended to this site by a friend of mine who used to post on LWS every once in a while. I have a question that I need a little advice on and I'm a little embarrassed to talk about it to my friends in real life. So instead of asking my valued friends opinions, I will instead ask for advice from strangers on the internet.

I am depressed and I have what people call anxiety problems. I know that these are fairly common, and that many people deal with them everyday. I am not getting medicated for them yet, although I have seen a doctor. I am 20 years old and I am jobless and currently un-enrolled in college. I am looking for a job because I need something to do to help boost my self esteem.

The other thing I have been doing is looking for a girl to have a relationship with. I normally scoff at dating websites, but I have been trying to meet someone on OKCupid for a while now. I recently met a girl on there who is amazingly pretty, really smart, and nice. Strangely enough, she actually seems to want to get to know me better. However, I feel that my anxiety will not only push her away but also make me seem awkward.

She is a few years older than me which also makes me nervous. Especially because she can drink legally and I cannot for another few months yet. I will probably be put on medication for my anxiety and depression next month, and I feel like everything would be easier if I could wait to talk to her until then.

I sent her an email a day or two ago to that effect, telling her about my problems and explaining how I didn't want to pull her into those and that I didn't want to start anything until I deal with my own issues first. I'm worried though that I may have made a mistake. She responded telling me it was fine and that she appreciated me letting her know, but now I can't help but think I'm missing a great opportunity. I mean, lets be honest, from what I know right now this girl is out of my league.

So I'm trying to see if anyone has any advice about what I should do. I don't want to have my anxiety become a problem in a new relationship, but I also don't want to miss out on a great girl. I guess I just don't quite know what to do. Any advice or comments would be appreciated, and to any of you who have severe anxiety problems but aren't medicated, how do you cope?

I know this is a lot to read, but I want to say thank you in advance for any ideas or help offered.