The holiday season can be such an exciting time for so many people — and it can also hold a lot of emotion that isn’t all joy and merriness. I’m sure we’ve all acknowledged that there’s a societal pressure to be cheerful during this season, and sometimes just that thought can feel overwhelming.
How do we know when it’s time to bring in a professional to help manage anxiety? And at what point is therapy really necessary? If you’re asking yourself some of these questions right now, now is the time to stop and reflect.
Think of communication skills as tools. They’re only accessible when your nervous system feels safe enough to access them. In moments when it feels challenging to access our regulation tools and our mind chooses reactivity instead, our brain is simply prioritizing safety over connection.
Teenagers undergo several life-altering transformations that can make it hard to determine what is a symptom of this transition and what is something that warrants mental health support.
The longer we go avoiding the obligation, the stronger the pressure becomes. The stronger the pressure, the further away we get from wanting to work on or accomplish the “should”. And in the space between “should” and “done”, anxiety covertly burrows under, expands, and fills the gap like a thick, nasty stink-bomb.
People with high-functioning anxiety often look very successful in maintaining their jobs, academics, parenthood, and other roles, yet internally are struggling with self-doubt, self-criticism, perfectionism, imposter syndrome, and persistent feelings of stress and being "on edge." High-functioning anxiety can affect people from any background, socioeconomic status, racial and gender identity, etc., and thus can present in each individual differently.
