Why is this happening, the worst circumstance is about to happen, I just messed up so bad, why do I have nothing to do, why is no one texting back on time, did I something wrong, I must have, the world is ending… 25 minuets latter…wow everything is ok I was totally over reacting.

This is glimpse into what it is like to be living with high-functioning anxiety. The odd fact about high function anxiety is that to many people the condition is not visible. I did not even know I had the condition until I graduated.

When my schedule went from five classes, two jobs and an internship as well as multiple clubs and organization meetings and a jam-packed social schedule, to being completely open, I crashed. I was a student all my life and I always had some sort of work to do. In college I noticed that I was my happiest when I was super scheduled and busy from 8:15 A.M. usually until 11 at night. I had just come to the conclusion that I was a really good multi-tasker and a go-getter who liked to be all over the place, see a lot of people, and, to an extent, a lot of that is true.

However, what makes what I thought was just a personality tract a real condition is how bad I crashed when my schedule became empty. I had expected to be a little bored during my career hunt but I never expected to take it this bad. The most important part of understanding high-functioning anxiety is to understand that so many people have it and to build a support system. An added note from my experience is that exercise helps a lot. It is also important to try your hardest to not stress yourself out and keep the big goals in focus.