
The Difference Between Everyday Stress and Anxiety Disorders
Everyone has stressors in their lives. But not everyone has anxiety.
Often, it can be very hard to figure out the differences. Just as they can be hard to deal with.
But if you look inside yourself and at your situation in life, you can figure out if what you’re feeling is stress or anxiety.
Stress
Stress is a short term feeling, it doesn’t linger after the situation is under control.
Usually stress occurs when there are changes in your life or if things get challenging. It is usually called by an outside source. Once the change or challenge is resolved, the stress can subside and calm down.
This feeling triggers various symptoms in the body, such as a higher heart rate, shortness of breath, exhaustion, headaches, dizziness, and a weakened immune system, among others.
Just like any other overwhelming feeling, being in touch with your body as well as your mind, and being able to pinpoint what you’re feeling or what the stressor is, and then resolving the issue, can assist in your recovery.
Everything from marriage to tripping over your own feet can cause stress. It is not just one ideal thing to avoid. Each person is different and handles life in their own way. But it is important to understand that stress is temporary. It won’t last forever as long as you work to resolve what is causing you stress.
Anxiety
Anxiety is an emotion that is caused by feelings of worry, nervousness, overwhelming feelings and other physical things like blood pressure.
It is a persistent feeling that things are never going to get better. This may sound like depression, but it is different. While they can still be linked, anxiety is seen as a “reaction to the stress itself”.
Anxiety is also temperamental. It is something that is not often connected or linked to something else. It can pop up randomly without stress or a trigger of any kind. This is why people have a really hard time handling it because it is so hard to control.
Both of these disorders can cause a response like a “deer in headlights” or a “Flight or fight” response. It can affect your ability to function properly and causes some to freeze and be unable to move or do anything productive.
While stress and anxiety disorders are overwhelming and nerve wracking, there are ways to get through it. For both of these, it can help to write down each step you need to take to help you get through the situation that is stressful. Making a pro and con list can also be beneficial.
Others find that having help and not going through the situation alone, helps to ease the mind and nerves.
These tools can help with anxiety as well. Helping to get your mind in line and take things one step at a time can help your body and mind to relax and understand that there is no immediate danger or problem that cannot be handled.
Knowing when you’re overstimulated, addressing it and finding the root of what is causing you to feel that way can be the key to finding what is stressing you out or giving you anxiety. Understanding the differences between stress and anxiety can change how you handle and approach situations in the first place. Those minute details can make the biggest changes in how your life goes on.

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