What’s the Difference Between Stress And Anxiety?

 


What’s the difference between feeling stressed and feeling anxious? It can be easy to confuse the two, especially when they become muddled together.

Think of stress as a normal response to the pressures of the circumstances. It usually occurs when we perceive the demands of the situation are more significant than we are able to cope with. The important thing is stress is logical (while unpleasant) given the situation. 

Ask yourself: is it logical that I should feel the pressure given these particular circumstances?

Stress is usually short-term if we have the correct coping experience to know how to deal with the demand placed upon us. We adapt and reassess the situation and the stress response reduces because we have changed our perception of our ability to cope.


Where our experience of coping is limited or our natural resilience has waned, the stress response can continue. If this is left unchecked, it can lead to burnout.


Anxiety is a very similar physical and psychological response to stress, but anxiety is illogical given the demands of the situation. Anxiety is at odds with the circumstances we find ourselves in. A person feels anxious without an identifiable external reason for the response.

Anxiety comes from stress within ourselves rather than the outside circumstances, which is why coping strategies are less successful in the long term. Anxiety is something inside the person but outside their own control. The greater the inner stress, the more difficult a person will find coping with external stress.


Knowing the difference between the two informs how we should tackle the problem.

With logical stress responses, problem-focused and emotion-focused coping can be used and boosted with the use of Suggestion Therapy.

Problem-focused coping is working through practical ways of addressing the obstacles that contribute to the stress response, while emotion-focused coping addresses the emotions that are created by the stressful situation; the stress response itself.

When the problem is identified as anxiety (an illogical emotional and/or physical response to circumstances) then it makes more sense to address the inner stresses that are creating the problem. Rather than just managing the stress response, we need to remove the underlying root cause of the problem.

How Can Hypnotherapy Help With Inner Stress?

Hypnoanalysis is a therapy which combines both Hypnotherapy and Psychotherapy. It aims to help a person resolve the build-up of inner stress that leads to anxiety and being more susceptible to the stresses of everyday life. By working through the underlying root cause of the anxiety, you can make sense of the origin and as a result, find it easier to cope with the usual stresses and strains of life.


David treats clients at Kettering Osteopaths and at Oundle Osteopaths. For a Free initial consultation call David on 01536 350328 or visit www.ketteringhypnotherapy.com

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