Stress VS Anxiety

Stress and anxiety can often be mistaken due to producing similar physiological and emotional responses such as increased heart rate, rapid breathing, sweaty palms, headaches, tenseness of muscles, and feelings of uneasiness. 

Stress is often a response to an external stimulus and is often short lived, for example sitting an exam, or tight deadlines at work. The stress often subsides once the external cause has been resolved such as completing an exam or meeting your deadline at work. Stress can be positive or negative, in our optimal level of stress it helps increase our concentration and motivation to tackle the stressful stimuli on the other hand being too stressed can lead to poor sleep, poor concentration and an inability to perform a task well. 

Anxiety is often a reaction to stress and is mainly due to internal causes such as negative self-talk and continual worries. Anxiety is a feeling of uncertainty, worries or fear and often does not subside once the stressor has been mediated. Anxiety often involves negative self -talk which perpetuates the symptoms experienced and is experienced for longer periods of time than stress is. 

We have some great blog posts that have some tips and tricks for dealing with stress (attach stress blogposts here) and some great ideas to help relieve symptoms of anxiety here (attach anxiety related blog posts here). If you’re worried about symptoms of stress or anxiety feel free to book a session with one of our friendly psychologists on 8838-8687 or book an appointment online.