Learn more about how we approach and treat anxiety at The Bridge to Recovery.
Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting 40 million adults in the United States age 18 and older, or 18.1% of the population every year. Only 36.9% of those suffering from anxiety disorders receive care. (ADAA)
When our emotional pain is left unresolved, negative behavior patterns and responses can take shape in many forms. Anxiety & Panic Disorders are one of the branches of our “Trauma Tree” and are likely one of the most common issues our clients report struggling with prior to attending our program.
Many can quickly recognize anxiety, and it is probably one of the lesser stigmatized mental health struggles (though still not nearly enough). For some on the other hand, their anxiety takes many forms and can be evasive.
Like many other mental health struggles, anxiety often can hide itself as physical and psychological symptoms that we do not understand. We may just feel “off” and not understand why.
It is important to focus on healing and wellness recovery when these symptoms begin to impact one’s ability to live a happy and healthy life. Our inpatient care for anxiety provides a full continuum of care to do so.
High-functioning anxiety is not a mental health diagnosis one can expect to obtain from a mental health professional. In fact, it is a characterization that is often used in such a way to self-describe symptoms of anxiety one may be experiencing while also identifying as functioning reasonably well in other aspects of their life.
Simply: People who experience anxiety but report that they function “okay” in most other aspects of their life.
While it is unknown what percentage of the population self-identifies as having high-functioning anxiety, it is suspected that it is quite high. We often identify these folks as:
However, for most of these individuals, what appears on the outside does not match how they feel. They often actually feel:
While many report that their anxiety is harmful, they also often report that it helps “push” them be the person that everyone else thinks they are, and that without it they may be “discovered” to actually be all the bad things they feel about themselves.
This conundrum can actually prevent people from wanting to seek help for their anxiety out fear. More fear. Fear is a common driver for folks struggling with anxiety, and while they identify themselves as “high functioning” it is actually much more detrimental on their lives than they realize.
Some estimate that as much as 30% of the US population struggle with workaholism.
We have all said it before. Maybe we are that person.
It is a word that is widely used, even sometimes with pride and admiration. Some call it the type-A personality, some claim they want employees who are workaholics, and some work to become sought-after workaholics.
While the manual used for clinical diagnosis (the DSM-5) does not yet recognize it as a condition, it does go on to mention it under the Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder category, referring to an excessive devotion to work leading to the exclusion of family and leisure activities.
While being an efficient, productive, and results-producing worker is important to both personal success and that of your employer, experiencing the symptoms of workaholism can be detrimental to your emotional well-being.
What does workaholism look like?
Your leisure activities are a façade for work-related activities:
“You know what, I’m just going to work late tonight!”
If conflict arises and you end the confrontation with that, it may be time to really do some inward observation of why work has become your escape.
At The Bridge to Recovery, workaholism is a very common issue that our clients self-report as one of the reasons they are seeking help. Often, workaholism goes hand-in-hand with:
If you have had the chance to jump around on this website, you have probably seen our trauma tree and the many symptoms that come from unresolved and underlying trauma. Workaholism is certainly one of those symptoms.
By understanding trauma, you can begin to see the connection. Trauma, or more simply painful events in one’s life, is the catalyst.
When to Seek Help for Anxiety:
Unfortunately, we see many clients in our program who wait until their problems are so compounded that they are often on the verge of a major life event, such as job loss or divorce.
Recognizing that these behaviors will catch up to you and will have catastrophic outcomes on your life is important. Do not wait until your life is in shambles. Healing is possible. Happiness is possible. Call us today to learn more about how we can help.
At our inpatient anxiety therapy, we can help you tackle the anxiety, while learning how it actually holds you paralyzed. Those “bad traits” about yourself are actually symptoms of your unresolved and underlying trauma. Let us help you heal the “whole person” within, and find relief not just form your anxiety, but from those traits you keep hidden from the world. Call our residential mental health program today.