Understanding High Functioning Anxiety: Signs & How to Help
“High functioning anxiety,” while not a formal diagnosis, is a term that has been used to describe high-achieving people who experience high levels of nervousness and stress. It’s believed that high-functioning anxiety causes high performance in some individuals by triggering their “fight or flight” response. But what does high-functioning anxiety feel like? And how can you help someone with it? In this article, we will explore these questions and more!
Table of Contents
Symptoms of High-Functioning Anxiety
– high levels of stress and nervousness
– increased heart rate
-shortness of breath
-dizziness or lightheadedness from even small things such as a phone call with bad news.
-panic attacks that look like anger
– extreme worry about health symptoms that others would dismiss more easily (e.g., thinking the slight chest pain is a sign of a serious problem).
People with high-functioning anxiety also tend to magnify everyday problems into larger issues in their minds (“I’m going to lose my job” instead of “I didn’t get enough done today.” ) The symptoms will vary depending on how an individual responds emotionally to challenges–some people may outwardly appear angry while others might feel extremely anxious. Some high-functioning anxiety sufferers might also have high levels of perfectionism, which can cause even more stress.
What are the causes of high-functioning anxiety?
So what is it that drives some people to experience high levels of nervousness or constant worry while others don’t?
There are several possible explanations for why someone may be at risk for experiencing high-functioning anxiety: genetics, brain chemistry and life experiences all play a role in how an individual responds emotionally to different situations.
High-performance work environments with long hours spent away from loved ones can add additional pressure. Chronic illness or pain often leads to increased feelings of vulnerability–and this could trigger strong emotional responses as well.
They may also have been raised by someone high functioning and they learned those behaviors from their guardian or parent.
Or a person could have felt like they were not enough as a child or that their family struggled, so they are determined not to let that happen again.
A nervous system that is dysregulated can contribute to ongoing anxiety that is not dealt with. It becomes suppressed while the person is at work or in certain environments or they don’t have anxiety in that situation, but then they go home and can’t sleep.
Trauma can lead someone to act like they do not have anxiety, but they are unaware of how a situation impacted them. They may not see their symptoms because they are living in their anxiety and they have little awareness of how it affects their day-to-day life. This may allow them to appear high functioning, due to their denial but it ends up getting worse long-term.
How to help someone with anxiety?
If you know someone high functioning who is experiencing high-stress levels or constant worry, it might be tough to figure out what’s going on. Your instinct may be to tell them everything will be okay, and they need to calm down–but this may not help if they are not convinced that things will be better.
Telling a person with high-functioning anxiety that things aren’t as bad as they think can lead the individual to feel more isolated and misunderstood. They may feel invalidated if you skip right to the solution and ignore the pain and struggle they are having.
The best way for anyone struggling with high-functioning anxiety is through support from friends and family members — not criticism–that means you too!
Instead of trying to calm them down, it’s more helpful to acknowledge what they are feeling and show that you understand. Be encouraging instead of dismissive when someone high-functioning tells you about their nervousness or anxiety. You can say phrases such as: “I know this must be hard for you” or “This seems really stressful.” Just listening without judgment also goes a long way–and if the person has high-performing perfectionism tendencies, try not criticizing how they spend their time either!
Be patient and don’t take it personally if they are high maintenance.
Anxiety Relief Techniques
Relaxation techniques include taking a deep breath, clenching each part of your body, and then relaxing them. Starting with your feet and going through every body part up until you get to your head.
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Can you self-diagnose high-functioning anxiety?
High-functioning anxiety can be difficult to self-diagnose, but some signs indicate high-functioning anxiety may be present in a person’s life. Generally, when people think of high-functioning they assume the individual must have all their mental health together so this type of diagnosis is often overlooked.
There is not an actual diagnosis in the DSM 5 called “high-functioning anxiety”. There are more common anxiety disorders such as Generalized Anxiety Disorder that may be a result of suppressing anxiety making it appear that the person is high functioning.
An important thing for individuals who suspect high-functioning anxiety in themselves or others around them to know is that even though high-functioning people seem mentally healthy, most likely they haven’t been diagnosed yet because many times symptoms go unnoticed until an episode occurs where then the severity of the issue becomes very apparent.
Having too busy of a schedule can cause someone to feel overwhelmed and accomplish a lot, but they may become overwhelmed and anxious. Anxiety can be very exhausting and cause someone to be very tired and then fall into depression, where they don’t want to get out of bed or go anywhere due to exhaustion.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Generalized anxiety disorder is just defined as excessive anxiety for 6 months or more. However, it can cause symptoms such as:
- Insomnia
- Restlessness
- Irritability
- Tension
- Dry Mouth
- Panic Attacks
This disorder is twice as common in women as it is in men and it is often treated with SRIs (serotonin reuptake inhibitors). (Tyrer & Baldwin, 2006)
What treatments are there?
Cognitive-behavioral therapy is the most common treatment to help someone be able to worry less about their daily activities.
Also, medication use or natural supplements work great to help you minimize your overall anxiety.
Many people are prescribed benzodiazepines to help them deal with their anxiety. However, I did some research and found some natural alternatives to benzodiazepines that do not have side effects.
Therapy and medication are the typical methods for dealing with anxiety, however there are natural alternatives to combine with therapy.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy is the most commonly recommended form of treatment, interpersonal therapy and psychodynamic therapy have also been used but are not as recommended as cognitive-behavioral therapy.
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References:
Tyrer, P., & Baldwin, D. (2006). Generalized anxiety disorder. Lancet (London, England), 368(9553), 2156–2166. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(06)69865-6
Originally posted 2021-10-07 21:07:04.
Megan Santiago
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