As we have discussed through the years, good mental health and well-being is extremely important. The past four years have been pretty crazy for many of us. The COVID-19 pandemic really pushed many of us to our breaking points and we weren’t ready for either. Anxiety and depression of course are nothing new by any means.
What is High-Functioning Anxiety? One would think having high-functioning anything sounds pretty fantastic and harmless, right?! Nope, nope, nope! It is all smoke and mirrors folks and at some point, the craziness will reveal itself in one way or another. Hopefully not too crazy!
High-functioning anxiety: describes an individual who, despite feeling anxious, seems able to effectively manage the demands of day-to-day life. (source: Adam Borland, PsyD)
Seems is the keyword from the definition above. People may seem to be able to function through it but it is entirely different behind closed doors.
Just because we appear to be able to function well under anxiety doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have long-term emotional effects. People who have high-functioning anxiety are struggling internally during times of stress. It seems that this is a coping mechanism for most. They do it because they feel they have to and they don’t want to reveal to other their perceived weakness.
Anxiety isn’t a weakness, it is fear of something that hasn’t yet happened. Sometimes this could be a notion of things to come based on one’s past history. For example: maybe you stumbled on some lines during a speech with a room full of important people. We definitely don’t want that to happen again so we work ourselves up with fear and trepidation.
There are lots of reasons why people become high-functioning, but what’s really important is that there is work to be done to discover why someone is anxious regularly. Attack the root of the problem first. I don’t know if anxiety can ever go away within someone, but we need to learn how to manage the symptoms and not let it break us down. High-functioning could be temporary. Learn how to manage it properly.
Do note that just because someone has high-functioning anxiety doesn’t mean that it’s all bad. Anxiety is a part of our whole Fight or Flight thing from thousands of years ago that really doesn’t serve us that much of a purpose. It is kinda like a potential early warning system built in. Choose to look at it as more of a guide than a rule and I think you will be ok.
The medical industry doesn’t really recognize High-Functioning Anxiety as an actual type of anxiety, so it’s kinda thrown in with Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Each of us has our own ways of dealing with and coping with things, but do be aware that however you choose to deal with the anxiety please don’t compartmentalize things and never address their true cause.
(disclaimer: I am by no means a clinician so please get help from the certified people who specialize in anxiety when needed)
Conclusion
High-functioning anxiety is getting through the anxiety and not necessarily addressing the anxiety in its entirety. Learn good coping techniques but also learn about the source of the anxiety. Information is power and let it serve you in the right ways.
