Anxiety is confusing. On one hand, it can be helpful in strengthening your preparation, motivation, thoughtfulness, and growth. On the other hand, it can grow to consume your mind and distract and exhaust you. It can contribute to the achievement of your goals and hold you back from taking steps towards your goals. The Yerkes-Dodson Law provides a visual way to understand the impact of stress on one’s performance.
Stress is a response to the external context which overlaps with the internal experience of anxiety that often arises in response to the stress. The Yerkes-Dodson Law emphasizes a middle ground in which the strengths and helpfulness of anxiety are demonstrated. With no anxiety or stress, one may feel bored, lack passion and direction, or avoid growth opportunities. With all-consuming anxiety or stress, one may become overwhelmed or struggle to complete tasks due to being stuck in thought-spirals of worry and overthinking. There is an in-between level of anxiety that holds one accountable and keeps them motivated while still maintaining enough energy to get things done. But what happens when someone is struggling heavily with anxiety internally, yet they have been able to continue performing well across their various life roles and responsibilities? They feel like they don’t fit perfectly into just one category of this bell-curve. They may outwardly fall in the optimal range of performance but are feeling exhausted and burnt-out inwardly.
High-functioning anxiety is an experience that describes someone who is seemingly functioning fine but is preoccupied with detailed thoughts and behaviors to avoid making mistakes. Individuals with high-functioning anxiety are often consumed by the worries and pressures of obtaining success, meeting society’s standards, and gaining validation from others. They may overwork themselves and strive for perfection as ways of coping with the anxiety. They fall into a pattern of engaging with preventative anxiety in which they do everything they can to minimize mistake-induced anxiety later on. Though this experience does not necessarily fall into a single section of the Yerkes-Dodson bell curve, it is not uncommon. Many people strive to reduce stress by pushing themselves to be perfect and work beyond their capacity. It makes sense they feel internally exhausted because they are carrying the weight of anxiety on top of losing energy from engaging in over-productivity. That exhaustion piles up and can lead to burnout, which can eventually start to impact performance and move the individual fully from the optimal zone and into the distress zone.
Feeling Disconnected
As someone with high-functioning anxiety sits in the space in-between those two zones, they can feel disconnected from themselves and others. Someone with high-functioning anxiety can feel disconnected from themselves as their internal experience does not align with their external experience. They may feel like something is wrong inside, but they question if they are being too sensitive or over-dramatic considering they seem to be doing well by society’s tangible standards. A part of them wants to address the anxiety because it hurts and is tiring. However, another part of them wants to push through and continue bearing the weight of the anxiety since it seems to be working for them performance-wise. They are stuck in an internal battle, not knowing what they truly need. Individuals with high-functioning anxiety often feel isolated and misunderstood as the people around them celebrate their wins and don’t hold space for their struggles. It feels so good to have their accomplishments recognized, but it feels so lonely to have their vulnerabilities go unseen.
To learn more about high-functioning anxiety, you can reference the following resources:
Part of being human is the desire for authentic connection, and authentic connection requires taking the risk of sharing one’s internal experiences with others. If any of this resonated with you, know that you are not alone and you can be understood. Therapy can be a place to process the struggles and successes and explore how those pieces intertwine. If you are wanting support or additional resources, reach out to info@thecouchtherapy.org for a free 15-minute consultation.
-Moira
(Learn more about Moira)
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