On the outside, you’re helpful, hardworking, organized, and self-sufficient. You get high-fives in the hall for jumping on that work problem before someone else could catch it, and yes, you can work the blood drive this weekend. Thanks for asking!
You may feel anxious, but it looks like you’re functioning fine. So what’s the problem?
On the inside, you may be insecure about your abilities, constantly considering the worst-case scenario, and unable to relax and let go of the tension causing the anxiety.
Life is not how many external accomplishments you can rack up, or how close you get to seeming perfect. It’s about feeling like you’re living according to your most authentic values and desires.
For some people, helping others is their most authentic desire. But it needs to come from a place of generosity and centeredness, not an obligation or yet another way to prove that you are lovable and “enough.” Let’s talk about what high-functioning anxiety looks like and how you know it’s time to seek help.
Anxiety vs. Anxiety Disorders
Humans have relied on anxiety for centuries—you feel it when you’re in danger and need to act quickly to get out of it. That’s why anxiety causes your heart rate and breathing to spike, so your body is ready to run or fight.
Today, it’s pretty feasible to go months or even years without being in life-threatening danger. However, you’re still wired with the same nervous system that protected your ancestors from hungry wolves.
Anxiety disorders occur when the nervous system works over time, sensing that you’re in danger when you’re really not.
This is due to your brain’s plasticity, or its ability to change by building new neural pathways. Studies show that people diagnosed with anxiety disorders have trouble telling the difference between safe stimuli and threatening ones.
In one study, after removing the stimuli, people with anxiety had a longer period of plasticity than average. This means their brain tried and failed to find new, meaningful connections when presented with new information. Instead, it decided the information was altogether unfamiliar and therefore a threat, filling the body with anxiety.
The average anxious person can typically figure out whether they have a reason to worry. People with anxiety disorders, however, cannot control the way they perceive threats—it is simply not how their brains are wired.
How High-Functioning Anxiety Looks Different From Anxiety
Typically, the signs of anxiety are visible—shaking, sweating, crying, hyperventilating, jumpiness, and fidgeting. People with high functioning anxiety may often come across and calm and in control, but on the inside they realize they are feeling anxious. The anxiety which shows up only to the high functioning anxious person may show up as an upset stomach, tight shoulders or neck, headache, etc. The anxiety may be because the high functioning individual works too hard, too long, too often. High functioning individuals can realize that they don’t leave room for rest and relaxation in their lives. They may not even be able to easily relax and recreate anymore.
If your not so obvious anxiety drains you to the point where hobbies, social relaxation, and opportunities for personal growth are absent from your life, it could be time to seek help.
High functioning anxiety can also come from a sense of inadequacy that drives you to accomplish more, be better, not make mistakes, etc.
Being incredibly organized, “on” at work, and constant multi tasking all day, every day can take a major toll on the body. In therapy, we slow the pace down and help you get in touch with what you are feeling in your body, learn to regulate your emotions and learn or practice self care tools. The goal is re center yourself, get in touch with the unspoken anxiety and shift your relationship with yours or others expectations.
Ready to get started? Schedule an appointment with me today.
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