If you go online, you will find that many people are talking about the increasing numbers of people affected by anxiety. There are many statistics out there saying things like, 1 in 3 people have anxiety disorders. There are also many people affected by anxiety, but may not be diagnosed as having a disorder, and some people misdiagnosed as having a disorder. When I look online, I find that there are many conflicting definitions of anxiety. There also seems to be a confusion between three different terms: worry, anxiety and stress. I did some reading and researching and tried to sift through the information about the difference between these three terms.
Apparently, worry is a cognitive function. It manifests itself as rumination: a form of circular repetitive thinking. Worries are thoughts that, according to many sources, are about the future but can be about events in the past. We use our imagination in an intent to do a positive thing, which is problem solving; however, we tend to overdo it, and in turn may lose sleep in the process.
Anxiety is an emotional feeling that often comes with a physical response. It is primarily experienced in the stomach and or chest. It comes from the emotional or limbic part of the brain. It can affect both our body and our mind and manifest in many different ways as a feeling of fear or dread.
Stress is part of our reptilian brain. This is the old part of the brain that tells us what to do in the response to a threat. A reptile analyses in an instant whether it can be killed by something, be able to eat something, or mate with something. This is the flight or fight response where adrenaline is released and we have a physical response to a threat, whether it is perceived or imagined. The problem is in humans we can get into flight of fight response from very small things and this response may linger for a long time after the threat has subsided.
I thought it is a good idea to clarify the differences between these three terms in order to figure out what we are feeling and experiencing. I hope I have clarified them well for you. The next step is to take action to reduce these feelings.
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