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Mental HealthWomenLifestyleCultureWork You’re Not Just Stressed. You’re Probably Functioning With Anxiety.

Maia Niguel Hoskin, Ph.D.

5 min readMay 4, 2026

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Let’s be honest, some of you are calling it “being busy,” but your body is telling a very different story. You’re not just stressed, overwhelmed, or “in a season.” You’re functioning with anxiety.

And because you’re still getting everything done, showing up, producing, handling responsibilities, keeping things together, you’ve convinced yourself that nothing is actually wrong. But your nervous system disagrees.

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When most people think about anxiety, they picture panic attacks, a racing heart, sweaty palms, and visible distress. But for a lot of women, anxiety doesn’t look like that at all.…