Stress vs. anxiety: How to tell the difference

Stress and anxiety don’t mean the same thing — learn how to identify and address both.

While the terms stress and anxiety are often used interchangeably, and while there’s some overlap in the symptoms, they actually don’t mean the same thing, says the Canadian Mental Health Association.

Anxiety disorders affect nearly five per cent of the household population, while stress is much more common, according to an Ipsos poll finding. And the differences don’t stop there. Here’s how to tell one from the other.

DISCLOSURE: This advice is not intended as a substitute for the advice of a qualified healthcare practitioner. Always seek medical advice that is specific to you and your situation.

Understand that stress and anxiety (and to a lesser extent, worry) are different sides of the same coin. While they are connected and both affect your nervous system, they are also distinct conditions with different approaches to treatment.

The Canadian Mental Health Association describes stress as a natural (and often useful) physiological response to an external threat. Stress is what signals our body to focus, and to go into fight, flight or freeze mode to help us navigate away from the threat and to safety.

Anxiety on the other hand is what happens when our body responds to stress and it includes a strong cognitive element (our mind). Like stress, anxiety is a response to a threat, only that threat isn’t easy to identify; there isn’t anything specific or easy to blame.

It’s important to keep in mind that there is a difference in feeling anxious and having clinical anxiety. Feeling anxious can happen daily to many of us (i.e. such as when we know we have a public speaking engagement), while clinical anxiety is much more severe, and debilitating, and requires clinical treatment.

According to the the Mayo Clinic these include: