When breakdown comes dressed as “high functioning.”
In every modern home, there’s often one woman holding it all together — and silently falling apart. She’s scheduling Zoom meetings and replying to school emails in the same breath. She’s tracking the maid’s leave dates, cooking dinner during calls, and still sending perfectly wrapped birthday gifts to extended family.
She manages everything — her job, her home, her children’s routines, the health charts, grocery lists, bill cycles, relatives’ emotional needs, and often her partner’s schedule too.
She’s complimented all the time.
“You’re amazing.”
“I don’t know how you do it.”
“You’re a machine.”
And she smiles. Because what else do you do when the world confuses survival for strength?
But here’s the truth no one wants to say out loud:
If you’re doing it all, the breakdown is not an if. It’s a when.
Because the reality is — it’s not sustainable.
Doing it all is the fastest way to losing your mind, your body, your peace, and eventually, yourself.
This woman isn’t “strong.” She’s functioning on auto-pilot.
But you won’t notice — because she still shows up. Still smiles. Still posts birthday photos with the right caption.
Behind the scenes?
She’s tracking 30 mental tabs every second. She’helping her kid hold a pencil correctly while mentally planning three meals and remembering the water purifier needs a cartridge change.
She hasn’t had a full night’s sleep in years.
She hasn’t watched a movie without pausing it six times.
She hasn’t sat in silence without guilt.
And when it finally breaks — when she raises her voice, when she snaps,
“She takes everything so personally.”
“She used to be so sorted — ab toh bas chhoti chhoti baat pe bhadak jaati hai.”
“May be PMS”
“You work, but we manage you”
“Even though she gets awards, we have to tolerate her mood swings for which we should be awarded”
“Phir start ho gayi tum, stop with your emotional drama”
That’s how it goes, right?
The woman who holds the entire ecosystem —
kids, meals, routines, family calendars, school interviews, maids, guests, holidays —
when she finally gets tired,
she becomes a problem to be managed.
A mood to be tolerated.
A phase to be waited out.
A “vibe shift” you talk about with your friends while pouring another drink and scrolling Instagram.
And now she’s exhausted from being strong, useful, pleasant, available, and silent.
No one sees the thousand times she swallowed her needs.
No one counts the compromises she made so no one else would have to bend.
No one remembers the times she fixed it without being asked.
But the day she forgets a detail — or worse, demands space —
she becomes “too much.”
Too angry.
Too emotional.
Too high maintenance.
Too loud.
Too sharp.
Too aware.
They praise her in public.
“Superwoman.”
“She’s a rockstar.”
“We’d be lost without her.”
And then privately?
They say:
“She’s become very intense.”
“I can’t talk to her anymore.”
“Everything turns into a fight.”
But here’s the truth:
She didn’t become difficult.
She became clear.
Clear about what she deserves.
Clear about what’s fair.
Clear that love without labour is manipulation dressed as partnership.
And that clarity?
It’s not a mood swing.
It’s what happens when a woman realises she’s the only one who’s been holding the weight.
And she’s finally putting some of it down.
Have you ever felt like the invisible glue holding everything together while coming undone inside?
Have you seen a woman in your life doing it all — and wondered how to really show up for her?
Drop your thoughts in the comments.
🫶 Share this with someone who needs to hear: You don’t have to carry it all.
