What should CEOs be aware of when it comes to employees with high-functioning anxiety?
It is important to distinguish the difference between a generalized anxiety disorder and a high-functioning anxiety disorder. As with most mental health diagnoses, generalized anxiety disorder requires symptoms to interfere with one’s activities of daily living for a prolonged period of time. With high-functioning anxiety, one symptom is the inability to let anxiety affect daily living–to the point of feeling the need to do everything perfectly all the time.
Does high-functioning anxiety make someone less capable of performing at a high level?
Absolutely not! Some employees with high-functioning anxiety will excel at high-level tasks and projects due to their tendency to be perfectionists and a desire to go beyond the expectations set before them. Most individuals with high-functioning anxiety present as outgoing and detail-oriented, and they can foresee potential issues others may easily overlook because of their inclination to over-plan and think through all potential outcomes.
What are some management techniques or recommendations you can share?
The best manager for an employee with high-functioning anxiety is one who shows appreciation for the work they do, while also recognizing early on when they are putting more pressure on themselves than necessary or healthy. Individuals with high-functioning anxiety can be prone to burnout by overanalyzing relatively simple instructions or allowing their anxiety and planning to get in the way of actually completing tasks.
Should managing someone with high-functioning anxiety impact confidence in their ability to lead a team and/or deliver high-quality work?
With attentive managers, clear expectations, and an organizational focus on self-care, an individual with high-functioning anxiety can thrive at work and be an amazing supervisor. For a supervisory role, it is important to clearly outline expectations and to make them aware that they cannot expect everyone to meet the same high standards they put on themselves. The supervisor with high-functioning anxiety needs a competent team who can deliver high-quality work but, more importantly, can help them focus on slowing down and appreciating successes as they occur.
What are some resources for managing high-functioning anxiety?
There are many things someone with high-functioning anxiety can do to manage their symptoms, including allowing themselves time to stop and appreciate their accomplishments, differentiating anxious thoughts from expectations, and committing to regular self-care. Some other external options include talking with an individual clinician to better understand where their anxiety stems from, how to set healthy work boundaries, or joining an outpatient program in a group setting that focuses on managing anxiety.
About the Experts: Awstin Gregg is a licensed clinical social worker and holds two additional master’s degrees in business. A former hospital CEO and a current professor at TCU and Texas A&M Commerce, he was voted Social Worker of the Year in 2018, Entrepreneur of the Year in 2019, and leads the Denton County’s fastest-growing healthcare organization, Connections Wellness Group, which received seven distinguished awards in its first year of operations.
Amanda Manchack is a licensed clinical social worker who has a passion for advocating for the underserved, underrepresented, and overall misunderstood. With a decade of experience serving patients in the mental health field, she has also held numerous supervisory roles where she trains and mentors fellow social workers and mental health professionals.
Connections Wellness Group is a nationally accredited healthcare practice able to care for any need, from acute depression to the common cold to everything in between.
