The Difference Between Stress and Anxiety

You feel on the edge, your sleep is off and your thoughts run. Is it just a stressful week or something deeper?

Stress and anxiety share many symptoms, but they are not the same – and facing anxiety requires a slightly different approach from that of stress. Here’s what you need to know.

The differences

“Many people use the words” stress “and” anxiety “interchangeably,” explains Judith S. Beck, president of the Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy. “While their symptoms overlap, there are distinctions between them.”

Stress occurs when a person faces requirements superior to what they think they can face. It often triggers negative emotions such as irritation, anger or sadness, as well as physical symptoms such as a rapid heart rate, stomach ache and tense muscles.

Stress often has a clear external cause and depends on the situation. Once the event passes, “the intensity of a stress response generally decreases,” says Beck.

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Anxiety, on the other hand, can appear even when there is no clear trigger, and it tends to linger. He is also generally disproportionate to any stressful situation in a person’s life.

Stress can degenerate into anxiety. “Stress and anxiety can be on a continuum,” says Beck. “If stress continues and efforts to overcome it do not work, individuals can develop an anxiety disorder.”

What’s going on in your body when you are stressed by anxious

When you are stressed, your body launches into combat or leak mode. You pump cortisol and adrenaline, your heart rate increases, you can breathe out and your body becomes more activated. It is your body saying: “Let’s get this.”

This response is useful when there is a short -term challenge, but can be deleterious if it is activated chronically. Stress responses are resolved when the threat or demand comes on.

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Anxious disorders, however, imply a more sustainable state of increased excitement and vigilance. “With anxiety, this same system can remain activated, even when there is no real danger. Your brain is stuck in a loop of anticipation problems, so your body continues to react as if there was something to be repaired, even when there is none, “explains Nina Westbrook, marriage and family therapist and founder of digital Wellness Community Bene. “It’s exhausting, because your nervous system does not take a break.”

How to cope

Precisely labeling your emotional experiences such as stress or anxiety can be a first step to select the best adaptation or treatment strategy.

“Naming what you feel is more powerful than you think,” says Westbrook. “This gives you a starting point. If you can say: “It’s stress”, you can start connecting the feeling at the source. “

Stress can be treated in different ways, depending on the trigger. If you sweat an upcoming presentation, for example, better time management could calm your nerves. In other situations, you may have to set more limits or request support, suggests Westbrook. Other stress reduction strategies include the division of overwhelming tasks in smaller and achievable steps; make a short walk; Share your experiences with a trusted friend; And give you permission to say “not for the moment”, explains Beck.

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The handling of anxiety does not compose as much on the treatment of a single trigger, because emotion tends to persist in different situations. “You could focus on setting up your nervous system and working on Earthmoking practices or techniques you know for you,” says Westbrook. Anxiety could also require more intensive cognitive-behavioral interventions aimed at modifying negative thinking patterns.