Whats the diference between stress and anxiety?

[Desprate Dan]

Hi folks, I know this might sound like a silly question, but what is the diference between stress and anxiety?? Are they both the same are they closely related? Because they say anxiety is harmless, yet stress is one of the biggest killers.. Is an anxiety attack a form of stress attack? Because most attacks happen when we are in a stressful situation, but not always... Just welcome your thoughts. DAN

[suzy-sue]

Stress can cause high blood pressure .This can cause heart attacks and strokes ..Anxiety is for me a side effect of years of stressful situations .The art of knowing when you are under stress ,and learning to control your reaction s ,and manage it better .Will lower chances of having a stroke /heart attack ,This will also prevent the anxiety or at least stop the severity of attacks .. Sue

[NoPoet]

Stress is our response to pressure of any kind: time pressure, deadlines, physical exertion, worries etc. Stress can motivate us. Some stress in our lives is useful and healthy. It keeps us sharp. Too much stress over a sustained period of time can lead to emotional problems including anxiety and depression. Illness, including anxiety and depression, also cause more stress.

In my opinion, stress overload is a serious and overlooked threat to human wellbeing.

Anxiety is a fear response when we perceive some sort of threat. This places extra stress on our bodies.

[Louise2009]

Hiya,

If a person has had anxiety, they really know the difference between stress and anxiety. For me anxiety, was the inability to carry on with my normal life, a complete shut-down, and really felt like a chemical inbalance and a feeling of going crazy. There was something really wrong! Stress is not the same, its more of a feeling of finding things hard and a pressured feeling, I believe one has stress for a long time, before anxiety actually starts.

Louise x