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How to Deal with High-Functioning Anxiety · RiseUp - Live Joy Your Way

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Today's episode is produced by my friends at Walk West.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_01: If you're looking to grow your brand and generate leads through podcast or video production, head over to walkwest.com.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, let's start the show.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: Rise up, live joy your way.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: From emotional intelligence through cognitive distortions, certified Life and Wellness Coach Comedy Wood is on a mission to help people see the magnificence of their own unique human spirit.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Through these small bites of self-visualization and self-confidence, you can have healthy relationships, success in business and career, and live the life you want to live.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: Rise up, live joy your way.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: Hi there and welcome to another episode of Rise Up, Live Joy Your Way.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: Whether it's morning, afternoon, or evening when you're choosing to tune in today, I'm just here to say thank you to you for taking some time out of your day to spend with me.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: And today's topic is about anxiety, but anxiety with a spin.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: We're going to be talking about high-functioning anxiety and how to deal with it.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: So anxiety represents our body's natural response to danger or stress.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_01: All of us experience anxiety from time to time.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes, however, feelings of apprehension, worry, fear, those feelings can be persistent and overwhelming and feel like they're taking over all of our thoughts and all of our feelings.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_01: According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, anxiety disorders are actually the most common mental illness in the United States, affecting around 18% of the adult population each and every year.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_01: And nearly half of people diagnosed with anxiety suffer from depression as well.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_01: Although you may not be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, you may struggle with the symptoms of anxiety regularly enough while successfully managing your daily life.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: Recently, I was actually hearing somebody talk about the way that they distinguish between anxiety and depression.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_01: And they were saying that depression is when we're stuck in the past and anxiety is when we're stuck in worrying about the future.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_01: And it makes a lot of sense that they could go hand in hand that somebody who suffers from anxiety may also suffer from some depression as well.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: So, what is high functioning anxiety?
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: High functioning anxiety is not actually recognized as a clinical disorder.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: It's considered a milder form of anxiety because people who have high functioning anxiety can still manage their everyday tasks and they they appear to be functioning very well.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: However, high functioning anxiety can still negatively impact your mood, your relationships, and your overall emotional and mental well-being.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: So with high-functioning anxiety, you might actually appear to be perfectly happy and well organized and grounded, and you might even find yourself quite high achieving.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_01: However, still behind the scenes, behind closed doors, you may still struggle on that inside with the feelings of that ongoing stress and overwhelm and worry that you're constantly ruminating about.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_01: So recently I talked about high functioning codependency, which is this concept of, you know, on the outside, everything feels like or looks like it's fine, but there is so much need to make sure that we're taking care of somebody else and that their needs are being met, which is an element of high function codependency.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: High functioning anxiety is around the fact that on the outside, once again, curb appeal, right, looks totally fine.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: However, on the inside, there is so much worry happening.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_01: You may actually find yourself um self-sabotaging with your own thoughts.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: You might be um self-sabotaging, talking about um the internal talk, uh, putting yourself down about your own worth, your own competence, your own lovability.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: That's where those uh false uh core negative beliefs come into play.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it becomes such an internal struggle that it it's emotionally draining.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: It gets to this point of just exhaustion, both physically and mentally.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: So understanding some of the symptoms of high functioning co uh high functioning anxiety um and how to take some steps to deal with it uh could be helpful.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_01: So what some of the symptoms that um could be indicative of high functioning anxiety um because it manifests in different ways and sometimes with subtle symptoms, such as um, you know, on the outside again, you're perceived as somebody who functions okay, you're successful at work, you're outgoing, you're you're loving, you're organized, um, you maintain these successful relationships.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_01: Again, it feels like from the outside looking in, there's balance in your work and in your life, and you're managing everything quite well.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_01: Socially, people love being around you.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_01: They think that you are a great person.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but in the inside, there are these thoughts that don't seem to ever go away.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: It's hard sometimes, maybe, for you to go to sleep or to stay asleep.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so some of the some of the things that you could just take a look at, you know, um, where we where this could be manifesting, where high functioning anxiety could be manifesting is, you know, it happens a lot with high achievers.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um sometimes high high functioning anxiety can manifest um in in some positive ways, like right.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_01: So if you are a high achiever, that's actually a positive.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so the high functioning anxiousness could contribute to that.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um and you know, you are organized and you are proactive and you are motivated and you are punctual at work and with other things.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_01: It's just when we start developing the negative aspects of the high-functioning anxiety, such as uh imposter syndrome, the fear of failure, uh, excessive worry, a tendency to overthink things.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um we lean too a little too far into perfectionism and trying to get everything perfectly right, um, irritability, restlessness, the constant rumination.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, maybe you find yourself with nervous chatter or even nervous ticks like biting your fingernails or biting your lip, shaking your leg.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it can, as I mentioned just a minute ago, it can manifest with sleep problems, just uh the the inability to always be able to focus or concentrate on something.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_01: Uh hard it's hard for you maybe to say no.
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  SPEAKER_01: This seeking out of external validation, um a tendency to maybe compare yourself to others.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_01: And believe it or not, people pleasing can be a symptom of high functioning anxiety.
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  SPEAKER_01: So it's just, and it's not to say that this list, if you have all these things, it doesn't mean you absolutely have high functioning anxiety.
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  SPEAKER_01: It's just something to take a closer look at.
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  SPEAKER_01: So, how do we deal with it?
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: If you if you're listening and you're like, okay, that's me, that's me, that's me, yep, yep, yep, maybe, maybe you do have elements of high functioning anxiety.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_01: So, how do we handle that?
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: Well, because many high achievers with high functioning anxiety tend to bottle up their that internal uh worry and turmoil and fear, because truthfully, they want, they don't want people on the outside to think anything less of them.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_01: Uh the very first thing that I would say is that you have to seek that support.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: You've got to start talking about it, talking open, open, opening up and talking about it, about your struggle and allowing yourself to have that reduction of stigma, right?
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_01: The reduction of that um, the self-talk that says, oh, people will think less of me if I have this struggle.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: It's recognizing and having some self-compassion that as part of common humanity, a lot of people are managing this and you're not alone.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_01: You're not isolated in it.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_01: And if you can actually start talking about it and opening up about it, first of all, it takes away any of that guilt and shame.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_01: And when we're carrying around guilt and shame, it's really hard to move through it.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: So that's the very first thing.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_01: But then secondly, we recognize that we're not by ourselves and we can lean on others, and that's so important when we are dealing with something like this.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, working on it from a cognitive behavioral standpoint, you know, recognizing what are those thoughts that I'm having, which are leading to certain feelings, which then lead to certain actions.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_01: How can we maybe shift some of those thoughts?
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: So that's the cognitive way that you can deal with it.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_01: Another way that you can deal with it is somatically, you know, okay, so I'm recognizing that I'm feeling anxious, or I'm recognizing that my body is responding to some anxious thoughts and I'm holding the tension in my body.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_01: And so dealing with it from a somatic perspective of, you know, recognizing where it is, breathing into it, working through it from the bottom-up approach.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, another way that we can deal with it is just getting active, you know, physical activity.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_01: Exercise has been tr has been proven to help with um our overall mood because we're releasing those natural endorphins.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_01: And so, with getting some type of physical activity, even if it's just getting out for a walk, it can help increase or improve one's mood, one's ability to sleep, and just work through some of those those anxious, ruminating thoughts because we're getting, we're starting to move.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_01: And then exercise and physical activity, as we talked about before, does help just improve your overall self-esteem, your confidence, optimism, um, the ability to just see the one right thing, even in the most challenging moments.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then of course, my favorite, which is practicing mindfulness, right?
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: Because when we're thinking about anxiety, we're thinking about worry, a lot of the times it can boil down to the fear of, am I, you know, the fear of I'm not gonna be okay.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_01: So if we can just recognize that and we can get into this moment here and now and look around and say, in this present moment, I'm actually okay.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: And in this present moment, I know that I'm okay.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_01: And I've faced all these challenges previously.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_01: So even if something becomes hard, I know that I can face it.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_01: The evidence has shown me that.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: So practicing mindfulness, being in the here and now, allowing the past to be in the past, and not over um worry about what's going to happen in the future, but learn, you know, self-trust that I can trust myself to show up and face whatever challenge comes my way.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_01: Of course, we work through this in coaching all the time.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_01: So if there is, you know, if you're if you're finding yourself resonating with this topic of high functioning anxiety and you recognize that maybe it is holding you back, coaching could be a great option.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_01: And like I've always said, I am here.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_01: If you ever would like to just chat about what's coming up for you, feel free to book a time with me at chatwithcomedy.com.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_01: And of course, until next time, stay healthy.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening to Rise Up, Live Joy Your Way.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: For more information, book a chat with comedy at www.chatwithcomedy.com.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: Or visit her website at www.comedywood.com.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: You can also find comedy on Facebook or Instagram.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: Username it's authenticme.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening.