What is the Difference Between Anxiety and Stress?

Anxiety and stress are often used interchangeably. You can feel stressed and anxious at the same time. You can also feel both stress and anxiety in the short term or long term.

Both anxiety and stress manifest in similar symptoms, such as increased heart rate, increased breathing rate, inflammation, and insomnia.  However, there are differences between the two.

Stress refers to feelings of overwhelm, often due to having too many things going on in life. For example, you might feel stressed when your workload significantly increases. You could also feel short-term stress when you’re stuck in traffic on the way to an important interview and you’re worried you might be late.  Anxiety can fill you with fear or worry and can be a reaction we experience when under stress or happen independently. .

Anxiety is more closely associated with fear and apprehension. If you’re anxious about something, you might be worried about the event itself or scared of the outcome. It can be a more general feeling or something based on a worry in your subconscious you can’t identify.