What is the difference between anxiety and stress?
Anxiety is a normal emotion that people experience when faced with situations of uncertainty and stress. It is a natural coping mechanism that makes us more alert to potentially threatening situations. It acts as an anticipatory response of the organism to stimuli, as a warning signal of a danger or threat, and this makes us take the necessary measures to deal with it.
It is a mechanism that generates anxiety and insecurity. The problem appears when the symptoms cause distress or affect the functioning of the person’s life.
Differences between anxiety and stress
Although they are sometimes used as synonyms – and it is not surprising given their relationship – they are not. Their origin may be different. While anxiety appears after an alert reaction and is associated with fear and worry; stress occurs when the person has a demand and not enough resources (skills, capacity, information, time, etc.) to cope with it.
Many times stress and anxiety appear together. Stress can provoke anxiety as one of its symptoms, e.g., stress about having to prepare for an exam and anxiety about whether or not you will succeed in passing it.
Stress can be reduced or eliminated by removing the stimulus that causes it (exam). It is the result of external factors. In anxiety, the stimulus can disappear and the person can continue to suffer (phobia).
How can I know that I or a person in my environment is suffering an anxiety attack?
It is a reaction, with emotional, cognitive and physical components. Symptoms begin abruptly with a feeling of fear, fear of dying, fear of losing control or consciousness, tachycardia, palpitations, sweating, trembling, feeling of unreality, feeling of suffocation, suffocation, tightness in the chest or stomach, feeling of numbness or tingling.
It is important to know that not all symptoms need to appear.
Causes of anxiety
Pathological anxiety is caused by an irrational interpretation of a danger or a worry of an intensity not in accordance with the situation. The source that provokes it is not always known or recognized, which makes it more difficult to manage.
The causes of anxiety disorders are not clear. It is established that certain life experiences, events
Can anxiety be treated?
Yes, anxiety can be treated with very good results.
The treatment has to be with an expert psychotherapist in this type of problems. Therapy is necessary to identify, eliminate and/or learn to manage the cause and in some cases add pharmacological treatment.