High Functioning Anxiety: Recognizing the Signs and Building a Balanced Life

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High Functioning Anxiety

Do you struggle with a need to constantly achieve that drives you straight to the edge of what you can handle? (and sometimes past what you can handle?) I know exactly what that feels like, and if you’re reading this, you may already know exactly what I mean. If you’re looking for some insight into what High Functioning Anxiety is, and how to deal with it, keep reading!

Definition of High Functioning Anxiety

High Functioning Anxiety is not a recognized diagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders. The diagnosis normally given to people with this disorder is usually Generalized Anxiety Disorder as the overall functionality of a person with High Functioning Anxiety Disorder is considered to be ‘normal’ or even above average. High Functioning Anxiety is sometimes referred to as High Performing Anxiety, and people with this disorder can often look like they’re in control of their lives, careers, health and relationships, but as anyone who’s struggled with High Functioning Anxiety will tell you, appearances can be more than just a little deceiving.

High Functioning Anxiety Symptoms

GAD and High Functioning Anxiety Disorder Symptoms

If you struggle with High Functioning Anxiety, you are likely to experience symptoms consistent with a GAD diagnosis. Some may be milder, while others could be more noticeable. You may have:

Difficulty managing fear or worries
Irritability or a feeling of being on edge all the time
A sense of doom or a reason to panic
Sleep problems (falling asleep or staying asleep)
Chronic fatigue (despite decent sleep)
Brain fog

High Functioning Anxiety Physical Symptoms

Just like every other type of anxiety, High Functioning Anxiety Disorder also presents with physical symptoms that can be difficult to compensate for and may impede normal daily functioning depending on your level of anxiety.

Excessive sweating
Feeling off-balance or lightheaded
Headaches or migraines
Intestinal issues, such as diarrhea or ulcers
Unexplained muscle tension
Racing heart rate or other heart palpitations
Shaky or jelly legs
Sleep problems
Tingling or numbness in extremities

Cognitive Signs of High Functioning Anxiety

High Functioning Anxiety Disorder is commonly associated with a need to achieve or be perceived in a favorable way. If you have High Functioning Anxiety, it is likely that you regularly deal with the following symptoms:

Self criticism
Fear of criticism
Overreacting to criticism, internalizing even constructive criticism
Fear of being embarrassed by actions or ‘not doing enough’
Perfectionistic tendencies
Anger, extreme frustration with imperfection
Consistent feeling of being on the edge of control
Feeling like something bad is always about to happen
Being constantly weighed down by large amounts of stress
Unrealistic expectations of yourself
People pleasing or over-volunteering
Significant burnout from overexertion
Difficulty maintaining healthy balance between relationships and career
Poor balance of self-care that leads to physical breakdown from chronic stress

Causes of High Functioning Anxiety

Environmental and societal pressures contribute to people developing a High Functioning Anxiety Disorder. Women, in particular, are twice as likely to develop this disorder as they tend to face extra pressure to balance responsibilities at home as well as at work.

Other contributing factors can include:

Going through extremely stressful events
Enduring chronic stress
Being genetically pre-dispositioned to anxiety
Unstable childhood situations that made you feel less secure
Anxious parent or caregiver
High expectations from parent or caregiver

High Functioning Anxiety Test

We all like certainty and getting a diagnosis- for free- that we can do at home, saving ourselves time is something that most people would consider a win. Here’s a link to a High Functioning Anxiety Test that is both free and doesn’t require your email to take.

DISCLAIMER: a simple test isn’t a substitute for working one-on-one with a therapist to help analyze and understand the challenges you’re facing. If you’re looking for a definitive diagnosis, you will need to work with a licensed therapist.

Dealing with High Functioning Anxiety

Seek Professional Help

Some challenges require the help of experienced and trained psychiatrists. I know that you may not want to take time out of your busy day to ask for help, but if your anxiety is becoming unmanageable, then it’s time to get the opinion and advice of someone who understands how to help you retrain your thoughts.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is one of the tools you can learn how to use to redirect unhelpful thoughts and reframe how you view stress, expectations and criticism, all while gaining insight into what your true needs may be.

Identify your priorities

Oftentimes with High Functioning Anxiety Disorder, learning to prioritize can be one of the biggest challenges because you think that if you aren’t doing all the things, all the time, with perfect standards, then either you or others will look at you like you’re somehow less than what you should be.

This pressure to always achieve is a lie. You have value just for breathing. You don’t have to handle everything all the time and do it perfectly.

Give yourself some room to breathe, and decide what you can’t live without. Is it your family or loved ones? They could easily be priority number one. Your health? Your career? Whatever your priorities are, identify them and rank them so you can better understand what you need to start saying no to.

Build your life around your priorities

Revisit your schedule: daily, weekly, monthly, etc. Make certain that how you spend your time is reflective of your priorities and mental health needs. This may involve making some changes or difficult decisions, but in the end, these decisions are to build a better future, so don’t get down on yourself if you feel like you let anyone down during this process. The life you are trying to build has to be sustainable for you. And over time, you may notice that you can balance things differently and still maintain your well-being.

Build and stick to your boundaries

This step will involve communication. Not all conversations will be fun, but again, this is to create a sustainable future for yourself so that you can make the things that are important to you a true priority.

Some people will support you on this, some won’t. But building healthy boundaries in relationships is key to maintaining your sanity and enforcing an expectation of respect for your needs.

If you allow others to ‘light you on fire to keep themselves warm’ they may not respect or appreciate what you need. You are not meant to be a slave to others’ wants. Boundaries are good. They show people where the door is. They can still knock. You can still maintain a relationship. It will just be approached in a way that allows you to be happy and healthy.

Ignore criticism

This criticism isn’t just from other people who may not like the changes you’re making in your life. It’s the criticism you know too well. Your own self-criticism. The voice in your head that won’t let you rest when you need it the most. Turning off this voice and forcing yourself to speak to you in a way that encourages your desires to meet your basic needs and enforce necessary boundaries can be a challenge at first.

As someone who’s struggled with High Functioning Anxiety Disorder since I was a teenager, I know that people often viewed me as self-motivated. Not achieving, not working or taking time to rest is so counter-intuitive that it took me years to get to a place where I can let myself back down a bit and rest when I need it. Readjust my expectations. Rethink my schedule. And all of that, while shutting down that angry voice inside that tells me that I have to try harder than everyone else.

I don’t have to try harder, work longer, exhaust myself into an avoidable case of burnout just to prove that I’m trying and doing my best, and neither do you. You have the ability to tell that voice in your head, wherever it came from, that your basic needs aren’t being met by living in fear of criticism.

You can tell that voice to ‘stick it where the sun doesn’t shine’ then go about your life in a way that honors your needs, and gives you permission to relax and inevitably- thrive. (Wouldn’t that be great?)

Don’t compare

We are all walking a different journey, and comparing your current situation to someone else’s will only make you unhappy. High achievers in particular hate feeling like we’re left behind or just plain old behind where we think we should be. I get it.

But if you want to manage your High Functioning Anxiety, you will have to put on some metaphorical blinders, and go about your business at the pace that is right for you. Your journey and destination aren’t meant to be the same as everyone else’s. How boring would that be?

Just focus on the next step you can take. Try to think of what you’d like to do, then backdown the timeline into something that’s reasonable and actionable. There’s a lot of advice out there and I’m sure you’ll find people who say that Rome can be built in a day.

But the truth is, anything worth building will take time. So give yourself time. You are the greatest project you can ever work on.

Seek a support network

Keeping your expectations grounded and your mindset clear can be challenging. It’s always helpful to have people around you who understand your difficulties and needs, to remind you that it’s okay to be human. Let yourself absorb this support and the reminders that no one expects you to be superhuman. It’s okay to break down and cry. It’s okay to say no. Find people that will encourage you to be your true, raw human self that you are.

Who knows? Maybe someday you’ll be able to pay it forward by helping another High Functioning Anxious person to change the way they think and live.

Remain mindful

Again with the humanity. We all backslide. Sometimes when we’re under stress, we forget to honor our basic priorities and needs. It happens. Don’t beat yourself up. Remind yourself of what you chose, why you chose it, and keep going.

Or maybe you’ve taken the time to heal. Your understanding of your priorities and the life you’ve built are aligned. Perhaps you’re in a lucky position of being truly able to take on more. That’s awesome!

Just stick to baby steps. Even if you feel like you’ve turned things around, the temptation to overachieve may still be there, so when you’re making decisions about changing your life, try to keep those priorities in mind and maintain a healthy balance for yourself.

Conclusion

Despite not having an official place within the Diagnostic and Statistics Manual of Mental Disorders, High Functioning Anxiety has a variety of symptoms: physical, cognitive and behavioral that can lead to debilitating burnout and unhealthy life patterns. Take time to seek professional help if you need it, recognize where you’re at, what your current unhelpful thought processes are, what your needs are, and systematically build life patterns that encourage you to lead a sustainable lifestyle in order to achieve remission. Taking time out and achieving less may be the best decision you ever made for yourself!

May God Bless and Keep You.

Claire Evers