Hope for the storm in your mind

As I write this article, the weather outside my window is in full October mode. From gloomy skies to the rain that starts every couple of hours to foggy mornings. It couldn’t be more perfect. I love autumn.

With the best fall foliage videos played on Youtube daily, evening warm meals and cosy candles, our London apartment is homier than ever.

Regarding today’s article – 1st, it’s not an easy subject to write about. I don’t have a psychology background. 2nd, it’s not something that I have 100% victory over, at least not yet. I can easily write or talk about depression because that’s something that I overcame, but when it comes to anxiety, for now, I only have ”coping with this one day at a time” or ”coping with this one moment at a time”.

I have days when everything is ok, but I also have days, when I literally need to tell my mind to JUST STOP.

I am a positive person, I try to see the good in everything, but sometimes I feel extremely anxious, and often, I don’t even know why. A few months ago I came across something called high-functioning anxiety. The term was new to me, but the more I read about it, the more I recognised certain patterns in my life, and the more I did my research on it, the more I wanted to write about it. I am sure I’m not the only one going through this. Or let me put this differently, I know I am not the only Christian going through this.

What is High-Functioning Anxiety?

According to Forbes Health – High-functioning anxiety is not a diagnosis, as it’s not an anxiety disorder recognized by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), which provides diagnostic criteria for mental disorders. Therefore, you won’t find a lot of information or research on it. Instead, high-functioning anxiety typically refers to someone who experiences anxiety while still managing daily life quite well.

Generally, a person with high-functioning anxiety may appear put together and well-accomplished on the outside, yet experience worry, stress or have obsessive thoughts on the inside.

Before we go any further, let’s identify a few high-functioning anxiety signs:

1. You tend to always be on the go
2. You feel like you should do everything
3. You have an endless checklist of things to be done
4. Feeling guilty when you take some time for yourself, because as I mentioned in my previous point – there’s an endless checklist
5. “People pleaser” (afraid of driving people away, fear of being a bad friend, spouse, and employee, fear of letting others down)
6. Overthinking
7. Need for reassurance
8. Inability to “enjoy the moment” (being unable to relax and be in the present)
9. The tendency to compare yourself to others
10. Mental and physical fatigue

This list can be longer but from everything I read about high-functioning anxiety symptoms, these are the ones that I relate to the most.

I would also like to add that when it comes to facing what you’re going through, you keep it all bottled up inside and compartmentalize your feelings with a plan to deal with them later (but that later never comes).

I bet everything sounds very dark so far, but what I’ve learned from past experiences is that there is always hope. I watched Hunger Games over the weekend, and there was a quote that stayed with me.

Hope. It is the only thing stronger than fear.

Because at the end of the day anxiety is born out of fear. Fear of failure, fear of the unknown, fear of the future.

What can you do? How can you manage moments when everything becomes too much?

Again, I will add some tips from my own personal experience, and I will be repeating myself by saying that I am not an expert on this, so for more on this subject, I would strongly suggest you talk with a specialist.

What can help fighting anxiety?

1. Building your mental health – recognising all the good things in your life.
2. Eating healthy
3. Exercising regularly
4. Sleep – sticking to a regular bedtime.
5. When you notice a negative thought, try countering it with something more realistic, something positive
6. Remind yourself that you are doing your best

There’s so much to be said on this, but let me just add one thing – everyone has a story.

Found a quote on Pinterest that I liked, it was something in the lines of – You can sound confident and have anxiety. You can look healthy but feel like s***. You can look happy but be miserable inside. You can be good looking and feel ugly.

Then the quote carried on with kindness:

Be kind, because every person is fighting a battle you know nothing about.

As I said, everyone has a story, but what’s important is how we let this story be shaped.

I mentioned hope earlier, well, for me that hope is Jesus, for you, hope might look different, but let me tell you something – Nothing calms my mind better than the words: I trust You.