The 3 Big Differences Between Anxiety And Stress

Anxiety and stress are not the same. However, sometimes sharing the same symptoms, it is common not to be able to differentiate between one disorder and the other.

Likewise, it is also common that a large part of the population does not know in depth this type of psychological conditions. The only thing we perceive is the physical and psychological discomfort, it is the anguish and the feeling that we are losing control of our reality.

On the other hand, something important should be noted. Both anxiety and stress can in turn appear in many different ways ( post-traumatic stress disorder, panic attacks, generalized anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorders … ).

The most important thing in these cases is to ask for expert help. Once we have a proper diagnosis, we can begin to apply those management and coping strategies provided by the specialized professional. Let’s see below how these two conditions are characterized.

1. The difference between anxiety and stress is in the origin

In 2001, Garnefski, Kraaij, and Spinhoven developed a new instrument, the CERQ, to establish the differences between cognitive coping strategies for anxiety, stress, and depression. This is explained by American researchers in the journal Personality and Individual Differences .

From this type of premises we can determine that, as is logical, each psychological disorder has an origin. Let’s see below what this distinction is based on.

• Anxiety arises after a feeling of fear. When we are presented with a threat (real or not) our body becomes alert and our mind experiences anguish and heightened concern. Therefore, normally the origin of anxiety responds to a specific fact: fear of losing work, fear that the partner will abandon us, fear of heights, of flying …

• Instead, stress appears when we feel that we do not have strategies to face those fears. When we think that we are not going to be able to deal with that problem, with that anguish … In this case the origin is not in that external stimulus but in whether or not we are able to manage that difficulty.
• It could also be considered that stress is generated by factors external to us, while anxiety develops from internal factors.

2. The intensity

Another difference between anxiety and stress is in intensity. This is an interesting fact that not everyone knows and that, however, would help us to better manage these realities.

• Anxiety has a greater psychological and emotional intensity than stress.
• Stress, on the other hand, is usually reduced as soon as the person is offered a strategy to control it or when that worrying stimulus disappears. For example, students who feel stressed about tests will feel better when they pass them.

• Anxiety can continue to exist even if that worrying stimulus is not there. For example, people with spider phobias can continue to experience that fear on a continuous and distressing way even if that stimulus is not around them. The emotional and psychological exhaustion is more intense.

3. Social pressures create stress; beliefs, anxiety

Another major difference between anxiety and stress is that anxiety is often the result of beliefs that are part of our point of view about the world.

• For example, if the idea that I cannot trust people has been transmitted to me since childhood, I will grow up with mistrust and I will not feel safe in the theater of social life.
• Our thought patterns can stand up to our worst enemies when it comes to experiencing anxiety.
• Stress, on the other hand, arises from those events in my environment that at a given moment exceed me and that I don’t know how to handle. For example: overwork, relatives for whom I must take responsibility …

Living without anxiety and stress, is it possible?

Now that we have seen the differences between anxiety and stress, as well as the contexts in which they can develop, a question arises: Can you live without anxiety and stress?

• The answer is “no”, since we cannot avoid them throughout our lives. What can be done is to mitigate what these conditions cause us.
• Nothing is as important as enabling ourselves as good managers of our emotions to have control over them.
• Likewise, we must also understand one aspect: anxiety and stress are necessary for our survival. They are those reactions that, regulated at an optimal level, allow us to react better to the challenges of life.

Therefore, it is not a question of reducing these dimensions as much as possible. We must live with them, make them our own, navigate with them with balance, optimism and resolution, understanding what their mission is.

Likewise, and to conclude, it should be remembered that to handle these states much better it is always advisable to consult with specialized professionals.