{"id":68608,"date":"2022-06-04T06:19:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-04T10:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=68608"},"modified":"2022-06-16T09:35:47","modified_gmt":"2022-06-16T13:35:47","slug":"stress-versus-anxiety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-versus-anxiety\/","title":{"rendered":"Stress Versus Anxiety: What’s the Difference?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Do you often feel stressed and\/or anxious? What exactly is stress, and how is it different from anxiety?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many people use stress and anxiety interchangeably, but they actually stem from different places. You feel stressed when there’s more on your plate than you can handle. You feel anxious when you don’t have control over your future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep reading to learn about the difference between stress versus anxiety. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

When Dealing With Uncertainty: Stress and Anxiety<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What is the difference between stress versus anxiety? When events demand more of us than we feel we can give, we experience stress.<\/em><\/strong> For example, if you have more work on your plate than you can handle, you probably feel stressed about it. When we\u2019re stressed, we benefit from support; we need people to ask how they can help and to take some of the work off of our plates.\u00a0\u00a0In extreme cases, we can become so stressed that we can\u2019t even function\u2014Brown calls this state overwhelm.<\/em> <\/strong>We\u2019re so overloaded that we shut down physically and mentally. Others asking us what we need is not helpful here, because we might not be able to come up with an answer. The only way out of overwhelm is to take a break, disconnect, and do nothing<\/em> for a while.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anxiety<\/em>, simply put, is concern about the future. <\/strong>Brown explains it as feeling like we\u2019re not in control\u2014we don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen, so we imagine the worst. For example, if you\u2019re waiting for the results of a medical test, you might be anxious about what those results will show. Interestingly, excitement <\/em>is nearly identical to anxiety, but we interpret the feelings in a positive way instead of a negative one. For example, one person might find gambling thrilling, while another can only imagine losing all of his or her money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turn Anxiety Into Excitement<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In Emotional Intelligence<\/em><\/a>, Daniel Goleman explains that anxiety is a sort of mental rehearsal<\/a>: We repeatedly imagine what could go wrong so that we can prepare ourselves to deal with it. <\/strong>However, in many cases, we keep worrying long past the point of any benefit; you can only go over an event so many times before there\u2019s nothing left to plan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Goleman suggests using a set of four questions to help break out of this cycle<\/a> of anxiety. In some cases, we can also use these questions to turn that anxiety to excitement: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. How likely is the thing I\u2019m afraid of? <\/strong>For example, if you\u2019re afraid of flying because you think your plane will crash, a little research will show that it\u2019s a one-in-a-million chance\u2014literally<\/a>. <\/li>
  2. How else might the situation play out? <\/strong>This is where you have the chance to start turning anxiety into excitement. Instead of imagining all the ways the situation could be unpleasant or dangerous, think of how it could be enjoyable or fun. <\/li>
  3. What steps can I take to deal with this problem? <\/strong>In other words, if <\/em>the dreaded event happens, how will you handle it? Make a plan for your exciting situation as well\u2014if the situation ends up being enjoyable, how will you take full advantage of it? <\/li>
  4. Is all of this worrying helpful? <\/strong>Once you\u2019ve figured out how likely an unpleasant event is, made a plan for how to handle it, and considered how things might go better than you expect (and made a plan for that as well), step back and ask if there\u2019s any benefit to thinking about it further. If all you\u2019re doing is spinning your mental wheels, then it\u2019s time to disengage and find something else to occupy your mind for a while.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Whereas anxiety is concern about the unknown, fear<\/em><\/strong> is a response to a perceived threat. <\/strong>Fear is a short-lived sensation that prepares us to deal with immediate danger using Fight, Flight, or Freeze responses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n