What is Stress & Anxiety?

Stress and Anxiety are often used interchangeably and there is overlap between them. Stress is related to the same ‘fight, flight’ or ‘freeze’ response as anxiety and the physical sensations of anxiety and stress may be very similar.  When we experience stress or anxiety of any kind we activate the fight or flight response, our bodies warning system to protect us against threat and over activation of this system depletes serotonin (happy chemical in the brain) produces adrenaline (energy hormone) and increases cortisol (stress hormone). The fight or flight response produces a range of physiological, psychological, emotional and behavioural changes in our body.

The causes of stress and anxiety are usually different. Stress focuses mainly on external pressures on us that we find hard to cope with such as an upcoming presentation or getting a flat tyre while driving on the way to work. Symptoms of stress typically disappear after the stressful situation is over. Stress is a response to threat and can occur from any situation or thought that makes a person feel angry, nervous, frustrated, worried or anxious. Stress is not always bad, it teaches us to learn resilience, problem solving and cope with every day challenges. However, stress can be bad if it is repetitive, intense, recurring and it is not resolved over a long time. 

Anxiety is an internal response to an external stressor. Anxiety is often associated with fear and it focuses on worries or fears that could threaten us, as well as anxiety about the symptoms or feeling of anxiety itself. When people are anxious they often have negative predictions about the future which is generally out of proportion to the level of threat present. Anxiety can affect sleep and eating patterns, cause one to feel irritable and on edge and can manifest into physical symptoms such as heart palpitations, pain , sweatiness and shortness of breath.  Anxiety can cause changes in behavior, thoughts and emotions too. Anxiety can be brought on from both real or perceived threats e.g losing my job or thinking about what would happen if I lose my job?