The Difference Between Stress And Anxiety

Those two words are used interchangeably in everyday life, but understanding the difference between stress and anxiety can help you to get the right treatment, support and care.

What is stress?

Stress is a normal reaction that our body uses to keep us alive by warning us of challenges in the environment around us. It's a built in, healthy response to a trigger that is outside of us. It not only warns us but helps us cope with the situation.

"Good" stress and "bad" stress

The purpose of a "good" stress response is to keep us alive. It drives us into action, helps us stay motivated, focused, and then the symptoms go away once the situation that caused it goes away.

Stress becomes "bad" when we're in that stress response for long periods or experiencing a low level stress response all the time.

What is anxiety?

Anxiety can feel very similar to being in a stress response. It tends to arise from inside of you, from thoughts, feelings, emotions and sensations in your body, from a fear that something will go wrong or something bad will happen even though there's no external trigger. It's possible to experience anxiety out of the blue, even when you're doing something enjoyable.

Is there a "good" anxiety?

People sometimes ask, "But what about feeling excited? That feels good!" Research has shown that what happens physically in the body when you're feeling excited is exactly the same as when you are feeling anxious. They both put the same strain on your organs and immune system. The only difference is that you interpret one as "bad" and the other as "good".

How do the Bach flower remedies fit in with this?

Dr Bach, a medical doctor, understood the effect that fear has on the physical body, on its immune system and on a person's mental state. He developed five different flower remedies for specific types of anxiety:

• fear of something bad happening to others

• fear of known things

• fear of unknown things

• fear of losing control and doing harm

• terror, extreme fear, panic

He also developed a ready-blended combination mix for emergencies and crises to calm the stress response: the Rescue Remedy.

Fear and anxiety can be tricky to identify. It can be anxiety-provoking and stressful to look at your anxiety and fear and more comfortable not to. If you have become used to being in a stress response and anxious and have tried to carry on in spite of it, you might not even be aware that you are anxious. Living in fear can become your new "normal".

It doesn't have to be this way. The Bach flower remedies shift from fear to calm and peace naturally and gently.

Getting care and support is even easier now. In the spirit of gnerosity and care, somebody before you has already paid for your consultation and personal remedy mix.

If you suspect that anxiety and stress are affecting you and would like to unload your worries, please feel free to get in touch.