What Are The Differences Between Anxiety And Stress?
"I'm so stressed."
"I am so anxious."
We hear these phrases all the time. And generally, we assume that they mean the same exact thing. We're living in a fast paced world that places emphasis on staying busy. For filling up our calendars with work and social events in between after school events.
The constant balance of work and obligations with very little, "play." With everything we have going on in our lives, it's no wonder that everyone is stressed out.
Many people, however, are surprised to hear that anxiety and stress do not necessarily equal the same thing. Here's how.
How Are Stress And Anxiety Different From One Another?
External Factors Cause Stress
There are many reasons why someone might feel stress. Stress is an emotional response that is caused by external factors. For instance, someone may feel stressed out for any number of reasons, including but not limited to:
A job interview
Before a meeting at work
A presentation you have to do for work or school
After the external event is over, the stress that you are feeling will go away. Stress, essentially, is a temporary feeling over temporary problems.
Anxiety Is More Internal
Similar to stress, anxiety is an emotional response. However, the main difference between the two is that anxiety is the emotional response to what is going on internally. Unlike stress, anxiety does not just go away on it's own. It is a chronic or ongoing condition.
While you can feel anxious because of external factors, in most cases, anxiety occurs when there is no evidence that something is happening. It is a natural response to real or perceived dangers. In ancient times, our ancestors developed anxiety as a response to life or death situations. They could either fight through the danger or run away from it.
Now? We don't really run into situations that warrant this response, but unfortunately, our bodies are now programmed to still respond this way. We can have an anxious thought that our brain will just cycle back and forth to. An example of this would be worrying about getting into a wreck coming home from work. Is there concrete evidence that it will happen? Absolutely not. But your brain, thinking it will, causes your body to respond by making you feel incredibly anxious.
Anxiety Has More Symptoms Associated With It
When somebody is feeling anxious, they can experience any number of symptoms. Most commonly, these can include:
Worrying over anything and everything
Poor concentration
Insomnia
Shallow or rapid breathing
Panic attacks
How To Manage Stress And Anxiety
Even though they are different from one another, stress and anxiety can be managed in many of the same ways. You could try to combat either one of them by:
Exercising
Meditating
Deep breathing exercises
Doing something that does make you relax, such as a hobby or interest
Managing Anxiety
While any of those listed above can manage both, there are still more steps you can take to manage anxiety. You could also try to journal in your phone or on a physical piece of paper. When you are journaling, you are getting the thoughts that are causing you to feel anxious out in the open.
Anxiety is one of the most treatable mental health issues that people face today. But that doesn't make it any easier to deal with.
Symptoms of anxiety, unfortunately, won't just go away when you try to manage it on your own. While they may subside, there is a risk that they can return at a later time.
One of the best ways it to manage anxiety in the long-term is by speaking to a licensed therapist. Working with a counselor in anxiety therapy does more than just mask your symptoms but helps to alleviate them completely. Let's connect soon so we can show you how beneficial counseling can be.