- Executive coach Cherlyn Chong has many clients with high functioning anxiety.
- The main signs are a fear of failure or not being liked, as well as procrastination, people pleasing, and over-thinking every decision.
- But it’s hard to spot because high functioners look so calm on the outside, as they use their anxiety to propel them forward.
- “They are well adjusted — they dress well, they look great, they just are calm, and it throws people off,” she said. This means they often don’t believe there’s anything wrong until something traumatic happens, like a breakup, and they burn out.
- The first step is for people to accept they have high functioning anxiety, Chong said, and realizing just because they have anxiety doesn’t mean there is something wrong with them.
