Difference between stress and anxiety

David Spiegel, Stanford University’s associate chair of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, has suggested a list of emotions distinguished stress from anxiety.

He has found that while the line between stress and anxiety often gets blurred, there are distinct things to be aware of -- including how these emotions affect the body and the root causes of each, reports the Huffington Post.

Below is a list of five signs that could tell one about feelings of stress, anxiety and how they really compare to each other.

Stress and anxiety share many of the same physical symptoms.

Whether you’re tense or suffering from something more, the stressful and anxious emotions can sometimes bring the same feelings of arousal, Spiegel says. Stressful or anxious emotions speed up our heart beats, trigger rapid breathing and cause muscle tension. The similarities taper when anxiety yields to a panic attack, which brings about more severe versions of the symptoms, including chills, headaches, hot flashes and chest pains.


The cause of acute stress is distinctly different from the cause of anxiety.

While there is definite overlap between stress and anxiety, Spiegel says that ultimately the two emotions come from two different places. “With stress, we know what’s worrying us but with anxiety you become less aware of what you’re anxious about [in the moment] and the reaction becomes the problem,” Spiegel explains. “You start to feel anxious about being anxious.”

A lot of anxiety can stem from fear...

Phobias of events, activities or social situations are all rooted in terror, causing the person suffering from the disorder to panic when they come face-to-face with that stressor, Spiegel explains. “Anxiety is like a snowball,” he says. “Anxiety converts fear into feelings and people who suffer from it tend to avoid what’s making them fearful, which can make it worse.”

...while the majority of acute stress stems from external situations.

“When it comes to stress, you know what you’re dealing with -- a looming deadline, bills, picking up the kids,” Spiegel says. “It’s these [outside stressors] that are able to be prioritized and handled one at a time.”

Spiegel suggests dismissing any thoughts of multitasking in order to better manage stress and to let go of the idea that you need to solve everything. “Figure out what you can do about things and what you can't,” he says. “Take on the things you can do something about and give yourself some credit when you’ve accomplished something.”

Anxiety and stress are often used interchangeably, even though they’re two different experiences.

By definition, anxiety and stress are categorized by separate feelings. The stress we experience in our day-to-day lives is associated with frustration and nervousness, where anxiety often comes from a place of fear, unease and worry. Still, despite the differences, many people use the terms interchangeably.