Welcome to PC, Sassymck We're glad you're here!

Like the previous posters said, no one around here really fits a "mold". There is no such thing as a textbook bipolar sufferer---we are all different and process things differently, and we have different comorbidities (associated illnesses) that spice up the chemical stew that is the human brain.

Anxiety is an extremely common companion to BP. OCD is another. If you research this forum, you'll find lots of folks with similar illnesses, and to be honest, I don't think there are very many BPs who don't have anxiety, even if they've never been formally diagnosed. (I'm one of them, though I carry only a bipolar diagnosis at this point in time---that's why I'm on Ativan.)

That's an interesting theory about OCD possibly being part of so-called 'soft' bipolar, although it's a new one on me, and I study this stuff all the time. FWIW, I feel the psychiatric establishment may be trying to push more and more illnesses into the bipolar spectrum that may or may not actually be bipolar; I'm not sure of the reason for this, unless it's got something to do with the way doctors are reimbursed for treating mental disorders.

Sorry about the BP diagnosis; it sucks, but at least you've found a group of people who live with it every day and know what you're going through.