The 6 differences between stress and anxiety

Stress and anxiety are phenomena that are sometimes used synonymously. And it is not surprising because they are closely related. Both can be adaptive and can even appear together.

But if we stop to think, there are different types of stress (chronic stress, work stress, acute stress, etc.) and different anxiety disorders (TOC, generalized anxiety disorder, panic attack, etc.).

"Types of stress and their triggers"
"The 7 types of anxiety (causes and symptoms)"

Differences between stress and anxiety

Then, What is the difference between stress and anxiety? In this article you can find a list of differences between stress and anxiety, which although they may seem abstract and its importance is relative unless you dedicate yourself to the field of health, they will help you understand this kind of phenomena emotional

1. The origin

Stress and anxiety are often related, and both can be adaptive at times. Nevertheless, the origin of these phenomena may be different.

Anxiety can appear after an alert reaction, and can be associated with fear and worry. For example, faced with the threat of an animal or the anticipatory idea of something bad is going to happen. On the other hand, stress is a phenomenon that occurs because the person does not have (or thinks they do not have) the skills, capacities or time necessary to face a specific situation. In other words, there is a mismatch between the specific demand and the resources to meet this demand.

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Stress can also occur when a person is at work and has to carry out functions determined, but you do not receive enough information about your role from the company, or the information you receive from it is ambiguous. Then what is known as role conflict and role ambiguity occurs, which are psychosocial variables that are related to stress in the work environment.

2. Anxiety is a symptom of stress

Much of the confusion that exists between both phenomena and what makes them similar is that they often appear together. In fact, a stressful situation causes anxiety as one of its symptoms, although it can also produce other, for example, depression or Headaches.

Prolonged stress, in addition, can cause the appearance of other consequences such as demotivation or depersonalization. Prolonged stress burns the person and causes emotional fatigue.

3. Regarding the objective intensity

Although stress can cause many problems for the person in a stressful situation, it is possible to reduce stress by eliminating the stimulus that causes this situation. For example, when someone feels stressed because he has not managed his time well and work accumulates before an exam. Once the test passes, the person can return to normal.

Although an individual with anxiety disorder may feel great anxiety before a stimulus, for example, in the case of a phobia, although the stimulus disappears, the person will continue to suffer from the phobia even with only imagining the presence of the stimulus. It could be said that stress is, at least in most cases, a real cause (although it is mediated by the person's expectations). However, pathological anxiety is an irrational interpretation of an exaggerated danger or worry. The intensity of anxiety is not commensurate with the objective situation.

4. The temporal moment

By associating stress with a triggering stimulus, it usually manifests itself in the present moment. For example, when a person has to turn in an assignment at the university and does not have time to complete it. However, stress can be prolonged, for example, when someone does not make ends meet and has to pay the mortgage on your house (stressor is still there month by month, and the mortgage gets bigger and bigger) so the stress is it chronifies. If the person is lucky enough to pay the mortgage, he will stop feeling stressed and feel relieved.

But anxiety can appear again and again, from worries of other temporary moments. For example, by anticipating consequences that may not have occurred (as in generalized anxiety disorder). Anxiety is a feeling of apprehension or fear and the source of this unease is not always known or recognized, which can increase the distress that a person feels.

5. The relationship of stress with stressors

As you see, possibly what most characterizes stress is the presence of stressors, and it is that there are many causes of stress. These stressors can be personal (for example, by the beliefs that an individual has or by the level of studies and training of her), although they can also be organizational (due to the leadership styles of superiors or company communication) or social (due to the economic crisis or destabilization politics). Stress has to do with the demands of the environment.

6. Anxiety and emotional impact

Therefore, situations that cause stress are the result of external factors. But in the case of anxiety, it has more to do with psychological factors and emotions. That is, it usually has its origin in interpretations that may or may not be real. A person suffers stress from life situations of the most varied, which he perceives as excessive or in which a person does not have the necessary resources to be able to deal with them effectively.

In the case of anxiety, this is an emotional, physical and cognitive alert reaction to a threat, whether real or not, but it is also a emotional response to stress that continues after a stressor has disappeared and that responds and grows through thoughts.

For example, when an exam is coming up where someone is playing a lot. On the one hand there is the stress of the situation and the overload of work, but on the other there is the concern of risking the entire course in an exam. This anxiety can make the person have difficulty sleeping during this time, thinking about whether or not they will be able to pass the exam. If you do not pass the exam, anxiety will surely take over the person, but the workload will have decreased and therefore the individual will not be stressed.

What to do about problems of this type?

Fortunately, the psychological disturbances associated with anxiety and stress can be approached from psychotherapy, through effective forms of intervention. Therefore, if you are suffering from any form of discomfort of this type, contact professionals and seek the help of psychologists.

Bibliographic references:

Barrett, L.F. (2016). The theory of constructed emotion: an active inference account of interoception and categorization. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 12 (1): pp. 1 - 23.
Beidel, D.C.; Turner, S.M. (1988). Comorbidity of test anxiety and other anxiety disorders in children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 16 (3): pp. 275 - 187.
Craske, M.G.; Stein, M.B. (2016). Anxiety. Lancet, 388 (10063): pp. 3048 - 3059.
Lewis, M.; Haviland-Jones, J.M. (2000). Handbook of emotions. New York: The Guilford Press.