What are the 7 Signs of High-Functioning Anxiety in a person and how do you discover them? Would you believe that a successful person who seems so put together every time battles with anxiety? Probably not.
However, it is very likely, especially in today’s world where everyone everywhere has a little bit of anxiety about everything.
Being anxious is a normal experience; anxiety is simply a warning that you are about to experience something, and your psyche pushes you to take action, either in favor or not.
But high-functioning anxiety is not okay; in this case, you are experiencing chronic stress, or excessive worry and obsession, on the inside.
There are several types and categories of anxiety, with different factors that trigger the occurrences.
Any of these anxieties can be termed “high functioning” as long as they do not impede the daily life and functioning of such a person.
Those with high-functioning anxiety appear so put together, having everything under control but losing it, enduring a huge fear of failure, running through a long list of what-ifs, and trying to maintain their perfect front.
Simply put, you’re making it; you are functioning well, yet you have a high level of anxiety you’re trying to deal with.
Just like psychologist Adam Borland puts it, “The term high functioning anxiety describes an individual who, despite feeling anxious, seems able to effectively manage the demands of day-to-day life.”
This type of anxiety is difficult to detect because, when most people hear or think of anxiety, they picture somebody who is always nervous and restless.
High-functioning anxiety is an undiagnosable condition since typical symptoms such as panic attacks or withdrawal are rarely present.
Another significant difference between high-functioning anxiety and other types of anxiety is that a person copes with anxiety either by flight or fight response, but in the case of high-functioning anxiety, a person responds with a fight.
Such individuals do not run from anxiety but would want to face it head-on and push themselves harder than ever to achieve the goal.
What causes high-functioning anxiety?
The actual cause of high-functioning anxiety has not been traced yet, but several researchers have tried to identify certain factors that may trigger this kind of anxiety.
The causes of these disorders are complex and vary from person to person, so not everyone who experiences these factors ends up developing the condition.
It is also common to have high-functioning anxiety with depression, but they rarely show visible signs; instead, they look like they have it all together and under control.
A few factors have played a role in triggering high-functioning anxiety, and they include
Genetics and existing family history of anxiety disorder: individuals who have a family line of anxiety disorders are likely to have high-functioning anxiety.
Traumatic experiences from childhood: abuse, rejection and neglect are some of the factors that lead to developing anxiety disorder later in life.
Environmental stress and negative life experiences: Stress from family, relationships, work and a few others is one factor that can easily trigger high-functioning anxiety
A medical condition or prolonged illness: Certain medical conditions such as thyroid issues can trigger high-functioning anxiety in some persons.
Others may have a prolonged health challenge which makes it difficult for them to manage their daily lives and would end up triggering anxiety.
There are several symptoms, both emotional and physical that manifest in a person with high-functioning anxiety.
These are the few visible characteristics one may notice in a person that would hint at the possibility of one having high-functioning anxiety:
- Feelings of disorientation and restlessness
- Excessive worry
- Easily irritated
- Lack of concentration
- Fatigue and
- Tension in the bones and muscles
- Shaky or fidgety feeling
- Heart palpitations and quicker pulse
Most often, other people would not notice any sign of high-functioning anxiety but they are there lurking in a corner. Here are a few signs to look out for:
7 Signs of High-Functioning Anxiety
1. Imposter syndrome
High-functioning anxiety makes some people develop imposter syndrome. Research shows that most successful people face Imposter syndrome at one point or the other in their journey.
Imposter syndrome is one of the 7 clear signs of high-functioning anxiety. Individuals with high-functioning anxiety usually downplay their achievement and carry around the fear of “what-ifs”.
They rarely show it but deep down they are scared that someone somewhere would label them a fraud. They constantly doubt themselves even when they can achieve something.
To counter these feelings, they end up working harder than ever just to prove a point to themselves. This is where perfectionism seeps in and the whole pressure can affect both their emotional and physical health.
2. Constantly worrying and overthinking
One of the 7 signs of high-functioning anxiety is constant worry and overthinking. Though overthinking is usually associated with other types of anxiety disorder like Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), individuals with high-functioning anxiety also can be in a state of constant worry and as a result it leads them to overthink.
In this case, they would stress a lot of things they cannot control, about the past and the future. they also tend to overanalyze situations, opinions, events or certain characteristics of other people.
They spend a lot of time ruminating on how.
However, contrary to the other outcomes of overthinking, a person with high-functioning anxiety may still be able to get productive even under worry because they are afraid of failure so they rather push themselves to their limit in trying to achieve something than not do it at all.
3. Physical issues
Indeed, anything that affects us mentally may also take a toll on our physical body and high-functioning anxiety is not an exception.
The issues may range from muscle tension from long hours if working to headaches from overthinking and inability to rest, to gastric issues from not eating well or staying hydrated. All these pose a strain on their physical health.
4. Perfectionist traits
The fear of failure is one of the main driving forces of an individual with high-functioning anxiety.
Coupled with other things, this person may set an excessively high personal standard and insist on being nothing but what they perceive themselves to be.
This trait is called perfectionism and it is one of the 7 signs of high-functioning anxiety.
They often feel pressured to live up to a particular standard, react negatively to mistakes, and have a high level of self-doubt and criticism.
5. The need for control
Individuals with high-functioning anxiety dislike other people trying to control them. They always want to be in charge of their affairs so giving others free rein to control their lives is something that would never sit well with them.
Controlling every single part of their lives and affairs would help them to reduce anxiety or worry because they don’t have to wonder what the other person is up to since they find it difficult to trust other people.
6. Avoiding vacations or free time till a project is completed
As much as a person with high-functioning anxiety thrives even under duress, they still tend to avoid situations or places which they feel they can’t be in control of.
They feel guilty when they take a break without completing a project they were working on so they tend to overwork themselves. They may also be prone to procrastinating work and projects especially if they are afraid of failure.
But at the end of the day work under great stress to beat their deadlines.
7. Being easily irritated
Persons with high-functioning anxiety can easily be irritated by common things because they usually are on edge. They tend to have a shorter span of tolerance and would easily snap at anybody when things are not going their way.
The ones who are often at the receiving end of their irritation would mostly be their family, spouse or children, especially children who easily notice when something goes wrong.
However, their anxiety won’t let them see reason before replying, so they may end up snapping at the children before even realizing what they did.
This is one of the 7 clear signs of high-functioning anxiety.
Many successful people are dealing with high-functioning anxiety in one way or the other.
The only thing that poses a problem is that most of them are not aware of it, nor do people around them have an awareness of anxiety that does not manifest the way we are all used to experiencing it.
High-functioning anxiety can have several impacts on our lives which very often are negative.
The issue of being undiagnosable is a tough one because most people don’t even know they are exhibiting signs of anxiety, helping to spread awareness about it is a sure step towards helping them come to terms with their feelings and actions.
It is very important to have optimal health to be successful and healthy at the same time and though it is often not the case, we encourage you to look into these issues, for yourself, your friends and your loved ones.
Check for the above 7 Signs of high-functioning anxiety and quickly reach out for help.
