the difference between stress and anxiety?
In: Other
Either can cause the other. But they’re separate things.
Ever had butterflies in your stomach because you were going to ask someone out or had to do public speaking? That weird feeling of uneasiness and maybe queasiness that leads you to second guessing decisions and playing scenarios out in your head and worrying about them. Usually you can’t sit still, you’re restless and maybe pacing around or keep checking the time or your phone without any reason to… just fidgety?
That’s anxiety. It’s in your head.
Now, anxiety or tension causes your body to react. Your pupils dilate, your heart rate increases, your brain releases hormones, your metabolism slows down etc.
That’s stress. It’s in your body.
When people talk about “stressing” over something, they’re usually referring to anxiety, but that’s because anxiety makes us feel stress (as do many other things) so people who don’t have an acute awareness of anxiety like those with PTSD etc just associate them together and get their terminology wrong.
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