Anxiety is different from stress, but the conditions are often grouped together. Let’s put the record straight.
If you’ve recently taken time off work in these anxious times, you’re not alone. Recent statistics from the UK Health and Safety Executive Footnote [1] paint a bigger picture of the disruption and cost that work-related mental health conditions (stress, anxiety and depression) can cause. For example, in 2019/20:
- 838,000 workers took time off for mental health issues
- 17.9 million working days were lost
What’s more, the figures were significantly higher than in the previous period, pointing to a rise in mental health conditions as the pandemic advanced.
You’ll note that the three terms – stress, anxiety and depression – were bundled together to compile the statistics, but it’s likely that the first two categories – stress and anxiety – make up most of the days when people are absent from work. And that’s a little disappointing. The terms ‘stress’ and ‘anxiety’ are often used interchangeably, which is a mistake.
Here’s why anxiety is distinct from stress
Anxiety is different from stress, and a step or two away from full-blown depression. As with many conditions, the first step to understand it is to identify its characteristics.
Like many psychiatric disorders , anxiety has been around forever and was recognised as a specific mental disorder by ancient Greco-Roman philosophers and physicians, dating back to Hippocrates.
It’s no surprise that stress and anxiety share certain common symptoms. There’s that surge of adrenaline in relation to a threat, that uncomfortable feeling of being on edge, combined with a knot in your stomach.
The difference is that if you remove the stressor, or develop strategies to tackle it, the problem can go away. With anxiety, these uncomfortable emotions persist when the stressors are absent.
For stress, think short term. For anxiety, think medium to longer term. The fear and apprehension continue, along with a speeding heartbeat and an inability to focus on daily tasks.
It’s also worth noting that stress is not a diagnosable condition under the ‘DSM-5’ handbook, which psychiatrists may use to define mental health conditions, whereas anxiety is.
The different types of anxiety
Another major difference between stress and anxiety is that there are many types of anxiety, most of them diagnosable by psychiatrists. These include panic disorder; various phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder; and post-traumatic stress disorder.
There is also what is known as ‘Generalised Anxiety Disorder’ (GAD) which – as the name suggests – can make people feel anxious about several different situations, as opposed to a specific situation.
For example, an agoraphobic will fear crowds, open spaces or using public transport. The NHS advises that you may have GAD if:
- your worrying is uncontrollable and causes distress
- your worrying affects your daily life, including school, your job and your social life
- you cannot let go of your worries
- you worry about all sorts of things, such as your job or health, and minor concerns, such as household chores
The NHS recommends that you should see your GP if anxiety is affecting your daily life or causing you distress. From the Health and Safety Executive statistics at the start of the article, it shows that more people than ever before have taken this route.
