Anxiety has been identified as the most common mental health condition in Australia, with the National Health Survey reporting it affects around 3.2 million people.⠀
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While “high-functioning anxiety” is not a clinical term as such, and isn’t officially classified as a mental health disorder, it refers to those who on the exterior look like “they have their sh*t together”, but internally feel very anxious.⠀
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“High-functioning anxiety” is a term to describe the anxiety felt by people whose anxiety does not interfere with their day to day tasks. This is often kept well hidden from others and despite still managing everyday tasks it can really affect day to day life.⠀
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What are the signs of high-functioning anxiety? ⠀
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Externally: ⠀
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* High-achieving⠀
* Detail oriented⠀
* Organised⠀
* Calm and collected⠀
* Orderly and tidy⠀
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But they can often be quietly internally experiencing feelings of anxiety such as:⠀
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* Agitation⠀
* Catastrophic thinking and rumination⠀
* Distrusted sleep patterns⠀
* The inability set boundaries⠀
* Trouble with prioritising and decision making⠀
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Some of the biggest challenges people who suffer from high functioning anxiety experience is the impact it can have on their body from constantly being in “fight or flight” mode. ⠀
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Physical impacts of this range from muscle tension, fatigue and adrenal burnout, low energy, GIT disturbances, insomnia and an inability to wind down and relax. ⠀
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Some help ways I like to incorporate for those who suffer from high functioning anxiety are:
1) Getting physical exercise may be the best thing to keep the brain healthy and operating at peak efficiency. Exercise is particularly effective for anxiety since it reduces the stress hormone cortisol and increases resilience to stress. Exercise also increase GABA; the neurotransmitter that slows down brain activity, enabling the anxious mind to relax.
2) Ditch caffeine - Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant that significantly contributes to anxious thoughts and behaviours.
3) Deep breathing also goes by the names of diaphragmatic breathing, abdominal breathing, belly breathing, and paced respiration. When you breathe deeply, the air coming in through your nose fully fills your lungs, and the lower belly rises. Deep abdominal breathing encourages full oxygen exchange — that is, the beneficial trade of incoming oxygen for outgoing carbon dioxide. Not surprisingly, it can slow the heartbeat and lower or stabilise blood pressure.
* My best advice with this one is you need to get good at deep breathing in a more relaxed state to be able to nail it when you’re already feeling overwhelmed - If you have ever had a panic or anxiety attack and someone tells you to deep breathe, you’ll know what I mean as it can take a while to control.
Try focusing on doing this when you lay down for bed or at a quiet time in the afternoon.
Breath focus helps you concentrate on slow, deep breathing and aids you in disengaging from distracting thoughts and sensations. It's especially helpful if you tend to hold in your stomach.
First steps. Find a quiet, comfortable place to sit or lie down. First, take a normal breath. Then try a deep breath: Breathe in slowly through your nose, allowing your chest and lower belly to rise as you fill your lungs. Let your abdomen expand fully. Now breathe out slowly through your mouth (or your nose, if that feels more comfortable)
Breath focus in practice. Once you've taken the steps above, you can move on to regular practice of controlled breathing. As you sit comfortably with your eyes closed, blend deep breathing with helpful imagery and perhaps a focus word or phrase that helps you relax.
Once you have mastered how this feels and can help you control your mind, you will be able to apply this any where, when you catch yourself off guard feeling like you’re overwhelmed. You do not have to close your eyes if you’re out in public, just focus on your breathing and if there’s a lot noise around try to focus on one thing such as a colour.
Lastly, If you are interested in trying guided meditation I recommend downloading the FREE app called smiling mind, this will help you through it by guiding you to begin with and has differently meditations for sleep, general relaxation and helps you to check in with how you are feeling pre and post meditation.
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