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Common Signs and Symptoms of High-Functioning Anxiety
Do you ever feel like you’re constantly on edge, even when everything seems fine on the surface? This may be a sign of high-functioning anxiety.
This mental health issue can be a tough one to spot, especially when you’re doing well at work and also maintaining a personal life. However, beneath what might be a calm exterior, you may notice your mind racing, or feeling out of sync in your body, or symptoms of discomfort, headaches, digestive issues, or others. Or, if you’ve noticed tendencies towards things such as perfectionism or people-pleasing, or more, these can all be masking something more profound beneath the surface.
High-functioning anxiety is like having a secret battle within yourself while appearing calm and collected on the outside. You may be an overachiever who’s always on top of things, but internally, you’re wrestling with constant worry and self-doubt.
While it's not an official diagnosis, it's a term used to describe the ability to manage your daily life well in spite of experiencing significant anxiety symptoms. You might excel at work or school, or even at home around your family, but the pressure to maintain that facade can be exhausting.
5 Common Symptoms of High-Functioning Anxiety
You might be dealing with high-functioning anxiety if you experience these common signs:
Perfectionism: You’re always striving for flawlessness, often at the cost of your well-being.
People-pleasing: You have difficulty saying no and often put others’ needs before yours.
Overthinking: Your mind constantly races with “what-ifs” and worst-case scenarios.
Insomnia: Anxiety keeps you up at night, making it difficult to fall or stay asleep.
Physical symptoms: You might experience headaches, muscle tension, or digestive issues.
Perfectionism
You might find yourself constantly striving for flawless results in everything you do. This relentless pursuit of perfection can be exhausting, leaving you feeling like nothing is ever quite good enough. You may obsess over minor details, repeatedly redo tasks, or struggle to complete projects because they’re not “perfect” yet (and never quite seem to be). This perfectionism can stem from a number of possibilities. Some include a deeper fear of failure or judgment, or from experiences of judgment and criticism in the past, or consequences of imperfection in the past that go deeper -- such as experiencing constantly arguing parents and the way to try to control this was to become a more perfect child. Any of these, and other possibilities can drive you to set impossibly high standards for yourself.
People-Pleasing
You constantly say “yes” to others, even when already stretched thin. The thought of disappointing someone sends waves of anxiety through you. You’ll go to great lengths to avoid conflict, often at the expense of your own needs and desires. It's actually quite common for people-pleasing to become a self-fulfilling prophecy. People are afraid to say "no", so they commit to things that they often may not be able to deliver on. Leading to the exact disappointment from others they're hoping to prevent. This people-pleasing tendency can also stem from a number of possibilities. Some include fear of rejection or criticism, or fear of being a disappointment, or on a deeper level, trying to take care of a reactive parent who needed to be settled before you could feel like you had the safe space to feel settled. While it may seem harmless, it can lead to burnout and resentment, and quickness to become irritable.
Overthinking
You find yourself constantly analyzing every situation, replaying conversations, and imagining worst-case scenarios. Your mind races with “what-ifs” and potential outcomes, making it difficult to relax or focus on the present. This mental loop can be exhausting, yet you might feel it’s necessary in order to stay prepared, or to be sure you won't forget something important, and other possibilities. Remember, while some planning is helpful, excessive overthinking often leads to unnecessary stress and anxiety.
You keep yourself up at night with racing thoughts, or the body is still in fight-or-flight mode, unable to fully relax. The racing thoughts consume your mind and makes it difficult to sleep, whether because they can't stop, or because it's scary to let go of thoughts you may feel you need to hold onto. Some people may fall asleep, but wake up in the middle of the night with racing thoughts and find it difficult to fall back to sleep.
Furthermore, many people with high-functioning anxiety will wake up early in hopes of squeezing in some extra time to work, leading to exhaustion and also being mentally and emotionally depleted, eventually.
Physical Symptoms
Your body often speaks louder than words with high-functioning anxiety. You might notice your heart racing or your palms sweating in seemingly normal situations. Tension headaches, migraines, and muscle aches can become unwelcome companions. These physical manifestations, while uncomfortable, are your body’s way of signaling that something is going on beneath your calm exterior that needs attention.
Moving Forward and Finding Relief
If you’ve been reading along here, recognizing some of the above within you, this is actually good first step to getting a handle on these unwanted anxieties. Remember, you’re not alone in this—lots of people deal with high-functioning anxiety every day. There are many ways to manage it and to work through the deeper players in what you're dealing with, which people often work through in therapy. It is possible to find relief.
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