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Five Symptoms of High-Functioning Anxiety · RiseUp - Live Joy Your Way

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  SPEAKER_01: Today's episode is produced by my friends at Walk West.
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  SPEAKER_01: If you're looking to grow your brand and generate leads through podcast or video production, head over to walkwest.com.
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  SPEAKER_01: Okay, let's start the show.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: Rise up, live joy your way.
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  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.
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  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.
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  SPEAKER_00: Rise up, live joy your way.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_01: Hi there, and welcome to another episode of Rise Up, Live Joy Your Way.
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  SPEAKER_01: Whether it's morning, afternoon, or evening, I just want to say thank you for taking some time out of your day to spend here tuning in to this episode.
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  SPEAKER_01: And today's topic is around high-functioning anxiety.
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  SPEAKER_01: I want to touch base on five common signs of high functioning anxiety.
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  SPEAKER_01: But before we get started, let's just sort of talk through what high-functioning anxiety even might look like.
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  SPEAKER_01: Often you're the hardest worker in the room.
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  SPEAKER_01: You're usually the first person to arrive at work in the morning and one of the last people to leave.
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  SPEAKER_01: Most days you might even find yourself working through lunch or just eating at your desk.
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  SPEAKER_01: You might be the person who is routinely and constantly monitoring your inbox and the chat messages, and even at night and during the weekends to ensure that there's nothing left unread.
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  SPEAKER_01: You try to stay on top of everything.
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  SPEAKER_01: And if your families, friends, or coworkers could describe you, they might use words like hardworking, organized, detailed, oriented, and potentially overachiever.
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  SPEAKER_01: You're proud to be all of these things mainly because that means that you can see the internal battle you're having.
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  SPEAKER_01: You're not quite sure what's going on, but you feel an edge, nervous and anxious most days.
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  SPEAKER_01: So what we're talking about here is high functioning anxiety.
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  SPEAKER_01: It's the person who looks like they have everything under control.
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  SPEAKER_01: They are very high functioning, but underneath it all, they have the elements of anxiety.
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  SPEAKER_01: So what are some of the five, what are five signs that we can look for?
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  SPEAKER_01: The very first one is the inability to relax.
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  SPEAKER_01: Many times you might find yourself constantly moving a thousand miles a minute.
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  SPEAKER_01: And honestly, you've if you somebody were to say, you know, slow down, relax, you actually would have a negative reaction to that because you you actually prefer constantly moving.
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  SPEAKER_01: There might be a subconscious fear that if you stop moving, something bad is going to happen.
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  SPEAKER_01: And you tend to have difficulty relaxing because when you do slow down your body and your mind, the thoughts and worries actually start to creep in and the emotions start to creep in.
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  SPEAKER_01: And through habit and just how you've dealt with it in the past, dealing with those emotions and those thoughts are not something that you're comfortable with.
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  SPEAKER_01: And so it can be a lot harder for somebody with high functioning anxiety to actually slow down and relax, because then that means that they would they would have to work through what those thoughts and emotions are.
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  SPEAKER_01: Secondly, you set high goals for yourself.
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  SPEAKER_01: High functioning people are high people with high functioning anxiety can set really high goals for themselves, sometimes swaying towards the unrealistic side.
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  SPEAKER_01: So what that means is they are not just setting goals, but they're setting goals that are extraordinarily um hard for them to attain.
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  SPEAKER_01: And then after hitting a goal, a new goal will immediately be set right after, right?
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  SPEAKER_01: Because if you have high functioning anxiety, you you constantly need to be on the go.
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  SPEAKER_01: So if you get to that goal, you're gonna immediately set another goal for yourself.
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  SPEAKER_01: And most often it's another high, potentially unrealistic, unattainable goal.
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  SPEAKER_01: Um, and what that ends up doing is this can lead to feeling unsatisfied and unfulfilled in your daily life as well as unappreciative of yourself.
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  SPEAKER_01: A third sign of high functioning anxiety, having a hard time saying no.
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  SPEAKER_01: The fear of failure is so common among people with high functioning anxiety.
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  SPEAKER_01: And so a lot of times there is a sense of feeling judged, or if maybe if you're at work getting fired, if you don't take on more projects, or if you might lose friends if you say no.
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  SPEAKER_01: So even though you might be drowning at work, you'll have a difficulty saying no, or even if you're drowning with all of your commitments, you won't say no to either a friend or family member.
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  SPEAKER_01: And what this choice often does is leads to exhaustion, both physically and mentally and emotionally, and can actually start having effects on your life as a whole.
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  SPEAKER_01: The fourth one, uh, a fourth sign of high functioning anxiety is uh your sleep schedule just seems completely out of sorts.
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  SPEAKER_01: Um, this has actually been something I've been talking to my clients about a lot lately, which is just the the inability to either fall asleep or once asleep, stay asleep.
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  SPEAKER_01: So because relaxing tends to be so difficult for people with high functioning anxiety, sleep ends up being difficult too, because what ends up happening is either they will prioritize work over rest.
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  SPEAKER_01: So they'll just put their sleep off, even though that they're exhausted and they're burnt out and run down, or they will have trouble calming themselves.
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  SPEAKER_01: So the brain is on overload as they're trying to fall asleep, or even more so, they will be able to fall asleep, but then they won't be able to stay asleep.
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  SPEAKER_01: They end up waking up in the middle of the night because as their brain starts to calm down, it's starting to process through all of the anxiousness and the anxiety and all the thoughts that weren't being addressed during the course of the day.
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  SPEAKER_01: And so then they won't be able to stay asleep during the night.
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  SPEAKER_01: And then, of course, we have the fifth one, which is the constant overthinking.
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  SPEAKER_01: Individuals with high functioning anxiety tend to be perfectionists.
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  SPEAKER_01: I'm not saying across the board, but they do tend to be perfectionists, and a lot of times they will overthink.
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  SPEAKER_01: So they'll over-ruminate over something that's happened in the past, even if it was a simple project or a task, they'll think about it and think about it because there's just this fear of doing it wrong.
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  SPEAKER_01: Um, so overthinking can sometimes be good in certain aspects, but when you're when you have high functioning anxiety, overthinking can actually keep you from moving forward.
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  SPEAKER_01: It can lead to either a spiral of negative thoughts, but it can also just lead to paralysis and not moving forward.
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  SPEAKER_01: And so then you end up either dealing with the after effects of not completing projects on time, or you might end up disengaging from relationships if you're overthinking relationships as well.
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  SPEAKER_01: Now, honestly, a lot of us have anxiety from time to time.
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  SPEAKER_01: What we're talking about here, though, is somebody with high functioning anxiety, which means that they're on the outside, everything looks fine.
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  SPEAKER_01: They're doing all of these things, constantly moving, constantly doing things, but underneath there is this anxiety that is not being addressed.
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  SPEAKER_01: And when you have anxiety that's not being addressed, it can be become chronic and can become a chronic stressor as well.
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  SPEAKER_01: And as we've spoken about on previous episodes of this podcast, chronic stress can actually lead to a lot of physical issues, mental issues, and emotional issues in as well.
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  SPEAKER_01: So it's important to recognize that if you think you might be suffering from high functioning anxiety, it might be something to slow down and take a look at.
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  SPEAKER_01: Through coaching, that can be a really helpful way to just have that co-collaborator help understand what could be happening in the background for you and in the subconscious.
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  SPEAKER_01: If at any time you'd like to talk with me about it, absolutely feel free to reach out at chatwithcomedy.com.
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  SPEAKER_01: But above all, it's important for you to take time to figure out what's going on for you because awareness is that doorway to change.
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  SPEAKER_01: When we become aware of what is happening for us, we can actually move forward.
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  SPEAKER_01: And until next time, stay well.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening to Rise Up, Live Joy Your Way.
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  SPEAKER_00: For more information, book a chat with comedy at www.chatwithcomedy.com.
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  SPEAKER_00: Or visit her website at www.comedywood.com.
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  SPEAKER_00: You can also find comedy on Facebook or Instagram.
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  SPEAKER_00: Username it's authentic me.
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  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening.