How is High-Functioning Anxiety Different From GAD?
Published on June 10, 2024
There’s no shortage of content about anxiety these days. Even so, the most common mental health disorder in the world is often misunderstood. You see, anxiety itself is not something to be feared. On the contrary, it’s a normal and helpful emotion. But if allowed to escalate to a chronic reality, anxiety can seriously hamper a person’s daily functioning.
In addition, despite growing awareness about symptoms, anxiety disorders are not as easy to recognize as they seem. High-functioning anxiety, for example, presents in ways that imply calm self-confidence. So, how does this version compare to better-known variations like generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)?
What is GAD?
Generalized anxiety disorder is probably the most common form of high anxiety. To be diagnosed with GAD, you must display long-term symptoms that are far more pervasive than isolated incidences of stress or worry. Most often, these symptoms will be obvious to the person and others in their life. When such signs are not apparent, high-functioning anxiety may be the cause.
What is High-Functioning Anxiety?
The primary difference between GAD and high-functioning anxiety relates to coping mechanisms. Someone with high-functioning anxiety has figured out ways to mask the condition. Rather than engage in identifiable behaviors like chronic worry, shaking, sweating, and more, they present themselves as organized, reliable, and self-confident.
At first glance, this seems ideal, right? In reality, people with high-functioning anxiety are churning inside. They are working — 24/7 — to hide their dread and panic. The last thing they want anyone to recognize is how stressed they are and how intensely they fear embarrassment. They overcompensate by becoming the one everyone else turns to when they need support.
Are the Symptoms the Same?
Yes, except symptoms are visible with GAD. Either way, both groups will be enduring anxiety-related issues like:
Rapid heart rate
Fatigue
Inability to focus
Hyperventilation
Shaking, trembling, and sweating
Digestive disturbances
Sleep problems
Irritability and restlessness
Unexplained physical aches and pains
Fight-or-Flight: How High-Functioning Anxiety is Different From GAD
It’s not an oversimplification to say each group of anxiety sufferers chooses a different tactic to deal with the body’s stress response. People with GAD will most often choose flight. They’d rather withdraw and remove themselves from a triggering situation. If unable to flee, someone with GAD may metaphorically take flight by shutting down or dissociating — anything to avoid the humiliation of their symptoms.
Conversely, someone with high-functioning anxiety will fight. This is not meant to imply that they throw punches. Instead, they wage an all-out battle to fool observers into thinking they are the opposite of anxious. To outsiders, they appear to be ambitious over-achievers — secure in their work. Inside, their fear of letting anyone down is overriding their need to process severe feelings of anxiety.
How Does High-Functioning Anxiety Affect a Person?
Most often, away from others, they are lonely, feel invalidated, and struggle with bouts of exhaustion. The loneliness springs from an unwillingness to get too close to anyone. After all, when someone is close, they may expose the “real” you.
Meanwhile, since people with high-functioning anxiety never show perceived weakness, they don’t get others checking on them. Friends are more likely to talk about their problems since the seemingly confident person always appears to be fine.
All of these add up to high levels of fatigue. Maintaining a facade is more than a full-time job. Meanwhile, your underlying anxiety disorder remains untreated.
Getting the Help You Need and Deserve
Asking for help may run counter to an anxious person’s chosen approach, but it’s precisely the step you need to take. Rest assured, the privacy of a therapy room is an ideal setting to begin doing the work of healing. Reach out to learn more about anxiety therapy.