Impact of high functioning anxiety on work: Therapist shares insights

From people-pleasing tendencies to experiencing burnout, here are a few ways by which high functioning anxiety can impact work.

High functioning anxiety refers to a type of anxiety when a person has persistent worry even when they seemingly appear to be doing quite well in their daily life. This happens from the need for constant perfectionism and the worry of failing at what they are doing. A person with high functioning anxiety is usually detail-oriented and high-achieving in nature. They constantly strive for perfectionism and success in their lives. In their work life, a person with high functioning anxiety seems to be doing well – even at times, achieving more than their daily responsibilities. However, high functioning anxiety can affect their work lives drastically. Therapist Carrie Howard addressed this and shared a few insights on how high functioning anxiety can affect work.

Impact of high functioning anxiety on work: Therapist shares insights(Unsplash)

Striving for perfection: While looking for perfection can improve the quality of work, setting unrealistic standards can affect people mentally and emotionally. This also creates a sense of urgency at all times, making them push ourselves more than we should.

People-pleasing tendencies: People with high functioning anxiety have difficulty in saying no to others – hence, they try to do the work assigned by others besides their own responsibilities. This often makes them stressed about work.

Frequently overthinking: Overthinking is a byproduct of anxiety. In case of high functioning anxiety, people constantly overanalyse and second guess themselves. This further makes them feel overwhelmed and underconfident to be able to make decisions.

Physical symptoms: Anxiety can show up as physical symptoms as well. Muscle tension, fatigue and headache are common symptoms of high functioning anxiety – it also makes them struggle to concentrate and focus on their work.

Experiencing burnout: People with high functioning anxiety are constantly stretching themselves – this makes them experience burnout. With no time to prioritise self-care, people with anxiety are often hard on themselves. Self-compassion and harsh self-criticism are very common in people with high functioning anxiety.