anxiety and stress, the same???

[Keep going]

Or two very different animals??

Stu

[nomorepanic]

Two different animals I would say

[giddy]

My doctor said the anxiety was my bodies response to stress, basically my body telling me to slow down and take better care of myself. She said some people react with anxiety, others with IBS, OCD, excema....

[popsy]

Stress to some degree is good for us it keeps us alive and safe. Its when we experience to much stress in evryday lives that it starts to change into a problem and starts the symtoms of anxiety and ultimately severe anxiety (a very tired mind). So they are two different animals to begin with but kinda merge into one in the end if the stress gets out of control! x

[jo61]

IMO anxiety is born from stress. We all need adreneline to get us out of bed in the morning but when it is overly present, then the anxiety kicks in.

[Bill]

I've been having a think about this question because I feel the immediate answer is simple when in actual fact the simple answer is just the tip of an iceberg and so to answer it effectively we have to go much deeper.

The simple answer is anxiety is a symptom of stress but there's much more to it.

Firstly, what is stress? I think there are probably 2 types of stress. One type is the stress we feel from our workload and pressure in the home looking after finances and families etc. The other type is emotional stress due to past bad experiences. I also feel our past emotional stresses can affect our ability to cope with day to day stresses.

Whatever type of stress we're suffering, they both have one thing in common - FEAR. We fear failure to cope, we fear losing our jobs and we fear letting the family down. With emotional stress we fear being abandoned, let down, our health, hurt etc etc etc.

So then what creates Fear? A lack of CONFIDENCE and that lack of confidence has resulted from our sensitive intense personalities, our upbringing and the upsets we've encountered.

So how do you build Confidence? You create SELF BELIEF. This is achieved through knowledge and experience by confronting fears in the "right" way, by coming to terms with our past and by learning how to deal with life better.

Anxiety or stress isn't really the issue. FEAR is the issue that affects both and it's FEAR that has to be overcome. Think of the amount of times you say to yourself "I CAN'T" and "I'm Too Afraid of" about everything you want to do and you'll see what I mean.

Overcoming irrational fear by building self-confidence is the weapon to combat anxiety which then helps us to cope with stresses better.

[breeze25]

I would say 2 different animals, I am often faced with stressful situation and I cope quite well and get through it, only after the stress goes that my anxiety pays me a visit.

[never2late]

Anxiety is the circuit breaker after too much stress; and depression is the circuit breaker after too much anxiety.

Many of us fear the state that we are in. Removal of that fear is the first step to recovery.

[caz303]

Anxiety is the circuit breaker after too much stress; and depression is the circuit breaker after too much anxiety.

Many of us fear the state that we are in. Removal of that fear is the first step to recovery.

I totally agree, but just how do you remove that fear :weep:

[Marginalia]

Just want to say Bill's post hit the nail on the head for me. I've just printed it out (close as I get to putting it on the wall and framing it :p).

[never2late]

I totally agree, but just how do you remove that fear :weep:

From reading many posts here, I'd have to say that there is no one clear-cut answer.

I know that *my* approach is a bit different than many (and vice versa). And I do not put as much "singular" attention on fear. Basically, for my own methods, fear is the end result of a process, not something in and of itself.

For others, fear may be the beginning -- not the end result.

However, either way, it is certinaly an integral part of the "whole".

But . . . only that. A "part" of the whole.

My focus begins with the nervous system -- the electro-chemical activity of our nerves, and its amplification by the release of adrenaline. Without this taking place, fear would not come into the picture -- since our fear is a RE-action, not an action.

Usually, with just about anything else in life, one would concentrate on the beginning of something, in order to take care of the end. But with anxiety (and panic), the circuit is a LOOP, which means the end (fear) loops back to the beginning (adrenaline release), and hence amplifies itself.

Therefore, since this is a loop, one can focus on the END (fear) in order to effect the beginning (adrenaline).

But the MAIN goal is to effect the beginning: the release of adrenaline (which, in time, super-sensitizes our nervous system).

This IN AND OF ITSELF can lead to recovery.

(If someone drops a spoon on a tea cup saucer and you jump -- there's a very good chance that your nervous system is very sensitized.)

Now, the way that I lost the fear of the state that I was in, was that I began to learn about what exactly is going on within myself. For the things that I had thought were wrong with me: such as a heart condition, etc., I had tests done to rule everything out. Once I had proof that, truly, nothing was physically wrong causing me to feel like I did, this lifted a lot of pressure and I was able to focus on what WAS making me feel that way: THE CYCLE OF: STRESSOR / ADRENALINE / FEAR / MORE ADRENALINE / MORE FEAR / that kept looping around.

I don't know how much help this is going to be for you -- and, after all, its just one persons experience, so it should be taken in context of everything that you read here. But, I thought I'd take a few minutes to type out an answer for you -- although I'm not the best at just sitting down and expressing something as complex as what we're experiencing in a few minutes time. Plus its' a lot of typing! I'm not going to check for typos, as I'm getting ready here for a big BBQ, so I'll send my best regards and hope that it has at least helped to point you in the right direction (rather than confuse!).

[Tom_M]

Anxiety stress the same? I Wouldn't say so. Pent-up stress can have to different outcomes. It's like a flight or fight situation, where you can either fight - get angry, or flight - get anxious. People who respond with anger usually get it out of their system, whereas people who get anxious bottle it up, and suffer long term problems.

Tom

[Bill]

Just another couple or so angles to consider.

Anxiety is another word for self-doubt and extreme worry which is I believe based on a lack of confidence in our own abilities.

I also feel there are 2 types of stress. Stress caused by a particular situation and emotional stress we feel due to irrational worries and bad experiences in our past.

Stress can cause anxiety (self-doubt) and anxiety (worrying thoughts)can cause stress producing a cycle of fear.

We all have stress thresholds and some peoples limits are lower than others such as is the case with us because of our sensitive nature but we can learn to how to push our limits by treating the issues that restrain us.

Imagine a footballer walking up to take a penalty in the final minute with the scores level. In his mind he will be thinking, if he scores, they win but if he misses, they lose. Imagine the stress he would be feeling. His adrenalin would be pumping causing his heart rate to beat rapidly. He would have all the symptoms of anxiety because of the stress he is experiencing.

How does he cope with the situation when his legs feel like jelly? How does he contain his worries and self-doubt? Adrenaline can be a good thing because it prepares our body to fight or run but self-doubts will cause a greater risk that the footballer will miss.

Wen he walks up to take that penalty, his mind has to be completely focussed on how he is going to kick the ball and where he's going to place it. The only way he can formulate his plan is through practise and practise produces self-confidence.

If he walks up to take the penalty with a confident positive mind, he will have a much greater chance of being able to control the stress he's feeling and any self doubts that are causing him to feel anxious. By controlling his mind, the body produces just enough adrenaline for him to achieve his objective. He goes into auto-drive and is in tunnel vision. He doesn't allow self doubt to surface or think of the crowd or millions of viewers watching him. All he sees is the ball, the goal and the goalkeeper. All he thinks is what he's practised.

It's exactly the same with anxiety in every day life. We all experience stress which produces adrenaline but if we focus on the symptoms the adrenaline produces, we'll fail. If we focus on our objectives, we'll win.
If we focus on worrying about failing (our fears), we'll lose. If we keep a positive mind and focus on winning, we have a better chance of succeeding.

"Emotional" stress though which has been created by bad past events which have been strored in our minds and left undealt with will cause our ability to cope with every day stress in the present to be affected. These issues need to be treated by bringing them to the surface and dealing with them by coming to terms and accepting them as in the past so that we can move forward into the future.

Bad experiences left undealt with will cause tension, anger and a short temper because of the stress they cause us. The stress will cause us to feel anxious and wary of trusting people. The anxiety will surface in a feeling of needing to be in control to feel safe because of the harm that's been caused to us in the past.

Emotional stress has to be released to allow the mind and body to relax so we become less tense and rigid and therefore less edgy.

Of course also, anxiety produces a "depressed state". I wouldn't call it depression though because we feel depressed due to the trap anxiety produces. We live in fear in a cage because we feel restricted in what we want to do because we feel too afraid to step out of our safe zone. Even feeling depressed causes stress because we feel frustrated.

I don't think stress and anxiety are the same but they can produce each other and follow each other in a cycle until we learn how to break them by building self-confidence in our own abilities.