You Deserve Treatment for Your High Functioning Anxiety

If you have high functioning anxiety, treatment might seem like overkill — after all, you’re handling it, right? Sure, maybe you never get a chance to actually enjoy any of your achievements because you’re always moving the goalpost right away or ruminating on what you might have done differently if given a chance, but you’re still achieving things!

High functioning anxiety can be one of the most difficult issues to tackle, precisely because many people feel like the only reason they’re successful at all is that their anxiety spurs them on. High achieving people are often reluctant to seek treatment options for this exact reason, but the truth is that your anxiety isn’t the source of your success; in fact, it may be holding you back from achieving even more.

Imagine how much more joy you could get out of your life if you weren’t weighed down by anxiety all the time. And how much more could you achieve in your personal or professional life if you didn’t spend so much energy and time living with high functioning anxiety? Effective treatment is worth seeking — just because you can function through your anxiety doesn’t mean you should have to.

Symptoms of high functioning anxiety

People with high functioning anxiety don’t always know that they’re experiencing a mental disorder — what if you’re just stressed? To help you figure out what you’re dealing with, here are some of the more common signs of high functioning anxiety:

There are other ways that high functioning anxiety might present, but one of the main qualities to look out for is a disconnect between your outward and inward presentations. So, to an outside observer, you might seem friendly and confident, with an impressive track record of achievements, while on the inside you may be feeling panicked about losing it all or making a misstep, struggling to focus, or fighting severe self-doubt.

The best treatment: cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)

The best therapy for any type of anxiety disorder is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). CBT employs a range of techniques to treat anxiety by helping patients identify their negative thoughts and see where they form patterns. Then, through a series of in-session exercises and ‘homework,’ therapists guide patients to reframe these negative thoughts to make them less harmful and more realistic, or even productive.

The great thing about CBT is that it can help anyone — you don’t have to have a diagnosable mental illness to benefit from the ways that cognitive behavioral therapy improves your understanding of and control over your own thought patterns. If you experience anxiety in any form, CBT is a great tool to help you clear your mind of harmful thoughts and regain your sense of self.

Therapists created Youper to make mental healthcare accessible to everyone. Youper is a mental health chatbot that guides you through interactive CBT Therapy exercises to help you calm anxiety, improve your relationships, be more productive, and improve your mood. Youper is available on your own time and schedule wherever and whenever needed.