In today’s age of high stress, individuals are silently enduring anxiety but seeming outwardly calm and undisturbed. High functioning anxiety individuals, for sure, are so unequivocally affected. Such people are usually high performers, having hectic work, family, and social lives with no one sensing their misery.

Suppose you’ve ever caught yourself wondering whether perhaps you or someone else has high functioning anxiety. In that case, you’ll discover more about its signs and symptoms from this article and the blessing of therapy.

What Is High Functioning Anxiety?

High functioning anxiety is that which appears in the instance of people who show signs of anxiety but are still performing sufficiently to complete all their work and even thrive on the surface. Even though they appear calm and serene on the surface, on the inside, they are fighting. The anxiety is exhibited as over-worrying, perfectionism, and fear of performance and outcome.

They’re individuals who are convinced they’re “playing a role”; they’re okay when, in fact, the personal anguish is acidic.

Symptoms of High Functioning Anxiety

It’s not always easy to determine if you are one of those with high functioning anxiety, particularly because most of those who do keep the charade intact. Aside from that, some definitive signs will lead you in determining whether or not you, or someone in your world, have the illness:

1. Constant Worrying: High functioning, anxious people worry about worrying about what is going on in their lives, careers, relationships, or what will happen in the future. They constantly fear without any reason whatsoever.
2. Perfectionism: An irrational need to be perfect at all things is another trait of high functioning anxiety. Everyone feels they need to be a master of whatever they are doing, whether it is at work or in their life. That will produce tolerable levels of pressure and stress.
3. Overthinking and Ruminating: One of the most common traits in highly functioning anxious individuals is overthinking. They will keep revisiting and going over tiny or large errors repeatedly, revisiting them for a constant set of days. It may result in an undesirable attitude, possibly impacting their mental well-being.
4. Restlessness and Fatigue: In addition to always never having a spare moment for something or never being free, high-functioning anxious individuals also end up emotionally and physically exhausted. They are never at ease, as if they never know they can ever relax and constantly have this tension locked deep inside their body.
5. Difficulty Saying No: The majority of people with high-functioning anxiety have a hard time setting limits. They do not wish to disappoint others and feel substandard, hence over-committing. This drains and infuriates them.
6. Physical Symptoms: Physical symptoms of high-functioning anxiety also encompass headaches, tension, stomach cramps, and sleeplessness. Physical symptoms get aggravated if the cause of nervousness is not dealt with.
7. Feeling Like an Impostor: Although they seem successful, high-functioning, anxious individuals will think they don’t deserve such success and will be discovered at any moment. Such so-called “impostor” syndrome is common and might be a contributor to overall low self-esteem.

The Impact of High Functioning Anxiety on Your Life

Though high-functioning anxious individuals seem to be making a go of it, the psychological and emotional cost is colossal. With the stress of getting the job done at work, combined with nervousness from the inside, parts of one’s life start suffering, including:

• Work Performance: Though they manage to get the job done, high-functioning anxious individuals will eventually end up burning out, procrastinating, and also turning into perfectionists, thereby eventually leading to long-term failure.
• Relationships: High-functioning anxiety also hurts interpersonal relationships. Over-worrying, irritability, and poor relaxation may drive individuals away.
• Mental Health: High-functioning anxiety, if left untreated, will ultimately develop into serious mental illnesses such as depression, panic attacks, and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).

How Therapy Helps High Functioning Anxiety

Diagnosis of high-functioning anxiety and visits to the therapist to get some help is better as far as the control and management are concerned. Therapy provides an individual with a secure place where they become increasingly aware of what they are experiencing, become attuned to the triggers of their nervousness, and adopt more effective coping strategies. One of the ways therapy can benefit an individual is as follows:

1. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is the most effective therapy for anxiety. CBT helps individuals recognize and undo negative thought patterns leading to anxiety. CBT allows individuals to learn healthier ways of thinking and responding to stressors so that they do not ruminate and perfectionate.
2. Building Self-Awareness: Therapy involves the development of a constructive awareness of what causes the patient fright and places them into the condition of panic. In working towards such awareness, the clients are helped to become capable of paying attention to whether and when they get tense and put conscious effort towards alleviating tension by relaxation skills or training mindfulness.
3. Learning Healthy Coping Strategies: Highly functioning anxious patients learn coping skills from therapy through which they can manage anxiety and stress. Grounding, progressive muscle relaxation, and breathing exercises are some ways to avoid physical expression of anxiety and feel relaxed.
4. Addressing Root Causes: Treatment through therapy also enables one to identify the cause of anxiety. If due to childhood, perfectionism, or fear of failure, then one must identify the cause of anxiety so that the treatment will be administered accordingly.
5. Improving Self-Esteem: High-functioning anxiety is also accompanied by the added variable of imposter syndrome and lack of self-worth. The therapy can then be utilized to build self-worth and a sense of self-esteem, erasing the fear of not doing so because it’s always looming above you.
6. Setting Boundaries: The most helpful thing that therapy might do for high-functioning anxiety is to learn to set boundaries. In therapy, one discovers that being selfish about oneself and saying no is not a terrible thing to do and something that one should not be ashamed to do.

Other Effective Techniques for Managing High Functioning Anxiety

Although therapy is the central part of treating high functioning anxiety, some self-help techniques can be employed as an adjunct to therapy:

• Mindfulness and Meditation: Techniques such as mindfulness meditation make people vigilant about their minds and emotions. This makes them react to anxiety in a calm and balanced manner.
• Regular Exercise: Regular exercise is the best way to eliminate stress and anxiety. Exercise releases endorphins into the body, the body’s natural mood elevators, and improves sleep quality.
• Sleep Hygiene: Proper sleeping is required in case of anxiety as not sleeping will only make symptoms of anxiety worse, and thus development of a regular sleeping routine is needed.
• Journaling: Writing down things that were said and felt initially may be an excellent means of letting go of the tension built up. Journaling provides the opportunity to study behaviour and emotions, which can be traced back to having provoked anxiety.

Overcoming High Functioning Anxiety

High functioning anxiety is simple to diagnose and fix, mainly because people who have the disorder are so eager to seem fine and together on the surface. But the fight that they are having on the inside is real, and seeking therapy is a giant leap in the direction of reclaiming control. Therapy, and cognitive behavioural therapy in particular, can make individuals realize that they are nervous, show them how to manage things more healthfully and help them be healthier overall.

Suppose you or someone in your circle are struggling to cope with high functioning anxiety. In that case, it’s faster than dialling a phone to schedule an appointment with a mental health practitioner to become a better, healthier version of yourself. You don’t have to do it alone. There are trained practitioners to lead you, and counselling will provide you with the support and guidance to survive and conquer signs of anxiety successfully.

Take the First Step

If you’re experiencing high functioning anxiety, don’t wait to seek help. Psy Connections offers professional therapy services in New York City to help you manage anxiety and improve your mental well-being. Contact us today to schedule an appointment and start your journey to emotional healing.