Unveiling High Functioning Anxiety Disorder: Hidden Struggles

Unveiling high functioning anxiety disorder, it’s hidden struggles. The definition of high functioning anxiety disorder is a subset of generalized anxiety disorder that often goes unnoticed or undiagnosed.

Overall, functioning anxiety occurs when a person has anxiety symptoms, but rather than retreating from situations or interactions, they work hard to face their fears and are skilled at covering up symptoms.

By the same token, to an outside observer, people with high-functioning anxiety may appear to excel and be in control. They don’t appear to avoid or retreat from life.

Even more, they may have successful careers, participate in many volunteer or community activities and have strong personal relationships.

Yet behind this facade, these people have persistent thoughts of worry, fear and high-stress levels or feel on edge.

Causes of High Functioning Anxiety

Unveiling high functioning anxiety disorder, it’s hidden struggles. Equally important, people with high-functioning anxiety are responding not to external circumstances, but to internally-generated fears that take on a life of their own.

Being that, the roots of anxiety can often be traced back to past experiences, or to certain personality traits that may have been present since the beginning.

Some of the common risk factors for high-functioning anxiety include:

Firstly, shyness in childhood
Demanding, highly critical parents
Childhood abuse (physical, sexual, emotional)
Fourthly, exposure to traumatic events, either as a witness or experiencer (violence, sudden loss of a loved one, diagnosis of a serious illness, warfare, natural disaster, etc.)
History of anxiety disorders in the family, especially among parents
Personal history of depression
Highly stressful jobs
Lastly, long-term financial or legal problems

People with high-functioning anxiety are sensitive to a wide variety of triggers, many of which would not bother most people.

High Functioning Anxiety Symptoms

Unveiling high functioning anxiety disorder, it’s hidden struggles. Furthermore, there are emotional and physical symptoms associated with generalized anxiety disorder. The symptoms of high-functioning anxiety mirror many of these, but some may be more prominent.

In addition to general nervousness, worry and feeling tense, people with high-functioning anxiety may internally struggle with:

Firstly, fears of criticism or significant self-criticism
Fears of looking inadequate or foolish to others
Feeling on the edge or on the verge of losing control
Feeling a sense of impending doom
Lastly, significant stress

People with high-functioning anxiety may also experience physical symptoms, such as:

Firstly, excessive sweating
Feeling off-balance or lightheaded
Headaches or migraines
Intestinal discomforts, such as diarrhea or ulcers
Additionally, muscle tension
Racing heart rate
Rubbery or jelly legs
Sleep disturbances
Lastly, tingling or numbness in toes or fingers

The intensity of these symptoms varies depending on a person’s level of functioning.

High Functioning Anxiety Treatment

Medication for High Functioning Anxiety

Unveiling high functioning anxiety disorder, it’s hidden struggles. Generally, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are often the first-line treatment for anxiety and high functioning anxiety.

SSRIs work by increasing serotonin levels in the brain. Common SSRIs include:

Firstly, Celexa: Generic for citalopram
Lexapro: Generic for escitalopram
Paxil: Generic for paroxetine
Prozac: Generic for fluoxetine
Lastly, Zoloft: Generic for sertraline

SSRIs can take four to six weeks to build up in your system, and may cause: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, low sodium levels, and sexual side effects.

Other medications that can treat anxiety include:

Firstly, Serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs): Such as Effexor (venlafaxine) and Cymbalta (duloxetine)
Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs): Can treat neurological conditions such as anxiety and depression
In addition, Beta blockers: Can reduce the effects of the fight-or-flight hormones on the heart
Atypical antipsychotics: Can help relieve symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder
Lastly, Buspirone (Buspar): Works well when there are high levels of worry, tension, irritability, or a mix of depression and anxiety

Therapy for High Functioning Anxiety

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Unveiling high functioning anxiety disorder, it’s hidden struggles. Consequently, there are many types of therapy, but one that’s been proven particularly effective for anxiety disorders is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).

This type of high-functioning anxiety treatment helps people understand how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are connected.

In any event, therapists can help people identify unhealthy or inaccurate thoughts and see how reframing them affects their feelings and behaviors.

We learn that assuming the worst outcome probably won’t happen, and even if it does, we find a way to navigate it.

Particularly, one way CBT can help with anxiety is by teaching people to pause and engage in cognitive restructuring or positive self-talk when they feel anxious.

We can ask ourselves things like: Am I being a perfectionist? What are my motivations here? How can I give myself compassion and grace, and not be too hard on myself?

CBT Behavioral Activation

Nonetheless, another way it can help is by incorporating CBT behavioral activation techniques. While CBT helps us understand the way our thoughts and feelings affect our actions, behavioral activation teaches us how our actions impact our mood, behavior, and feelings.

Therefore, we identify what we’re doing when we feel depressed, anxious, calm, or energized and intentionally engage in activities that support the desired emotion or effect.

Dealing with High Functioning Anxiety

In addition to therapy, coping strategies to ease anxiety symptoms include:

Forgetting comparisons
In brief, people with anxiety tend to compare themselves to others, feel the need to improve and want to be more like someone else. Comparison can rob you of joy and contentment.
Seeking a healthy life flow
Subsequently, each person has different needs and energy levels. Some people thrive when constantly moving, while others need time to decompress. Therefore, your needs for sleep, self-care, nutrition, exercise and work-life balance will differ from others. You will know you have found the proper flow when you feel at peace with yourself with the amount of busyness versus rest and work versus play.
Creating a support network
Overall, people with high-functioning anxiety may believe they must deal with their behaviors alone because they fear criticism or negative outcomes. A positive support network of people who care for you, regardless of outcomes, can help ease anxiety symptoms.
Identifying core values
In detail, some people with high-functioning anxiety become fixated on society-defined success, like having the “right” job, car, house and material possessions. These items often are important only because other people believe they are important. In due time, a therapist can help you uncover what is important to you outside society’s expectations, and align your thoughts and actions with your core values.
Practicing mindfulness
In sum, this is the practice of purposefully being aware of and focusing on the present moment. Concentrating on one thing or moment can increase feelings of calm and peace.
Establishing healthy boundaries
In particular, this can help improve relationships with others and establish rules for yourself. The importance of saying “no” often is talked about as part of boundary setting. That’s because many people overextend themselves. But some people with high-functioning anxiety also should embrace saying “yes” to opportunities that stretch their comfort levels. Their lives grow in experiences and fulfillment the more they face their fears.
Learning to accept criticism
This can be difficult for many people but especially people with high-functioning anxiety. Therefore, they may snap back or get defensive. A therapist can help you identify ways to step back at this moment and evaluate the feedback neutrally without emotion.

High Functioning Anxiety Test

Unveiling high functioning anxiety disorder, it’s hidden struggles. When you have high-functioning anxiety, you are able to function well and even be extremely successful in your career, family life, and/or personal life.

But the thing that nobody knows is that on the inside your behaviors are driven by fear, self-doubt, and avoidance, rather than feeling grounded and confident in yourself.

This fear might drive you to push yourself too hard, always need to be busy, always be overanalyzing things.

Also, having difficulty saying no and setting boundaries (which results in you taking on too much), and a quick road to burnout.

Take the high-functioning anxiety test below to help you understand if you might be struggling with high-functioning anxiety, and what you can do about it.

https://www.becalmwithtati.com/high-functioning-anxiety-quiz

Conclusion

Unveiling high functioning anxiety disorder, it’s hidden struggles. It’s important to remember that there are good characteristics that come along with being anxious. Still, people with anxiety often are caring, empathetic, peacemakers, rule followers and good citizens.

Many have a strong desire to overcome their challenges. I believe that anxious people are awesome. In reality, they just need to believe in themselves, and develop tools to become more confident and self-accepting.

Identifying their core values will help them set goals that truly match what is important to them.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), around 19% of adults in the United States have an anxiety disorder.

Some people might consider themselves to be in the “high-functioning anxiety” category, but it’s difficult to know exactly how many. Until next time…