The 6 differences between stress and anxiety

Two psychological phenomena that cause discomfort, how exactly do they differ?

Stress and anxiety are phenomena that are sometimes used as synonyms.. 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 (OCD, generalized anxiety disorder, panic attack, etc.).

Related articles:

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

Differences between stress and anxiety

So, what differentiates stress from anxiety? In this article you can find a list of differences between stress and anxiety, which although they may seem abstract and their importance is relative unless you are in the field of health, will help you understand this kind of emotional phenomena.

1. The origin

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

The anxiety can appear after a reaction of alertness, and can be associated with fear and worry. For example, when faced with the threat of an animal or the anticipatory idea that something bad is going to happen. Stress, on the other hand, is a phenomenon that occurs because the person does not possess (or thinks that he or she does not possess) the skills, abilities or time necessary to deal with a particular situation. In other words, there is a mismatch between the specific demand and the resources to cope with this demand.

Stress can also occur when a person is at work and has to carry out certain functions, but does not receive sufficient information about his or her role from the company, or the information he or she receives from the company is ambiguous. This produces what is known as role conflict and role ambiguity, 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 the two phenomena and what makes them similar is that they often appear together. In fact, a stressful situation causes anxiety as a symptom of stress, a stressful situation provokes anxiety as one of its symptoms, although it can also produce other symptoms, for example, depression or pains in the neck.for example, depression or headaches.

Prolonged stress can also lead to the appearance of other consequences such as demotivation or depersonalization. Prolonged stress burns the person and causes emotional fatigue.

3. Regarding 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 provokes the stressful situation, it is possible to reduce stress by eliminating the stimulus that provokes the stressful situation.. For example, when someone feels stressed because he or she has not managed his or her time well and has a backlog of work before an exam. Once the exam passes, the person can return to normal.

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

4. The temporal moment

When stress is associated with a triggering stimulus, it usually manifests itself in the present moment.. For example, when a person has to hand in an assignment at 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 his house (stressor is still there month after month, and the mortgage gets bigger and bigger) so the stress becomes chronic. 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, because of 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 uneasiness is not always known or recognized, which can increase the distress a person feels.

5. The relationship of stress to stressors

As you can see possibly what most characterizes stress is the presence of stressors.There are many causes of stress. These stressors can be personal (for example, due to an individual's beliefs or level of education and training), although they can also be organizational (due to the leadership styles of superiors or company communication) or social (due to the economic crisis or political destabilization). Stress is related to 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 to say, it usually has its origin in interpretations that may or may not be real. A person suffers stress when faced with a wide variety of life situations, which he or she 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 reaction of alertness to a threat, whether real or not, but it is also an emotional response to stress that continues after a stressor has disappeared and that responds and grows through thoughts.

For example, when an exam is approaching in which someone has a lot at stake. On the one hand there is the stress of the situation and the overload of work, but on the other hand there is the worry of staking the whole course on an exam. This anxiety can make it difficult for the person to sleep during this time, thinking about whether or not he or she will pass the exam. If he/she does 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, psychological disturbances associated with anxiety and stress can be addressed by psychotherapy, through effective forms of intervention.. Therefore, if you are suffering from any form of discomfort of this type, get in touch with professionals and seek the help of psychologists.

Bibliographical 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. Nueva York: The Guilford Press.