Anxiety is not one size fits all. Life is often seen in black and white and yet we exist within the areas of grey. Anxiety is no different. While anxiety is far from rare and it is actually more common than we might initially realize, not everyone’s anxiety looks exactly the same. Anxiety exists on a spectrum. Anxiety can range from debilitating and near impossible to function with to high functioning and hardly even noticeable if at all able to be seen. It can also vary day to day and situation to situation. Individuals may only experience anxiety in social settings and be perfectly fine in other common panic inducing scenarios. It all just depends on the person and the situation.
So what is high anxiety and how do we even know if it’s present? Well, high functioning anxiety is typically the term for anxiety that an individual experiences while still being able to perform their daily tasks and needed duties. High functioning anxiety is part of the reason that anxiety can be both underreported and so prevalent in our society. On top of that, high functioning anxiety can look different from person to person. For example, someone who is traditionally viewed as a type A personality, may actually be experiencing some level of anxiety.
High functioning anxiety can look like an individual has it all together, the perfect vision of success. While always meeting deadlines and tackling the tasks before you are generally seen as a positive trait, one thing that is often the driver of this success is the fear of failure or the fear of being a disappointment. High functioning anxiety is being afraid to call in sick, people pleasing, over thinking, or even nervous habits like picking at your fingernails or cracking your knuckles. High functioning anxiety may even look like insomnia and mental or physical fatigue. High functioning anxiety is often seen as individuals who overachieve. This perception fails to take into account the anxiety and struggle often associated with that level of success.
Individuals with high functioning anxiety often bottle up these emotions, compartmentalizing them in order to “deal with them later” This procrastination is not just something done with their feelings, rather it often comes up in other aspects of their life as well. High functioning anxiety can be procrastinating that project out of a fear or worry or even being frozen in our actions until the last moment when that desire to achieve and the fear of failure and disappointment kicks in and we are forced to achieve in spite of that initial fear.
If you or a loved one suspect that you struggle with high functioning anxiety, therapy can help! Our therapists here at Niyyah can help guide you through various ways to cope with anxiety. We can help you navigate the careful journey from the positive aspects of achieving due to anxiety to achieving your goals with reduced anxiety and a greater sense of comfort. Reach out below to one of our amazing therapists today and begin your journey on the way to living more comfortably with anxiety.