By Heather Caldwell, LPCC
We recently had a blog series that discussed the connection between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and depression, upper limits, and how these early experiences may limit our ability to experience happiness as an adult. This blog series explores anxiety, discusses the connection between ACES and anxiety, and explores how these early experiences might impact us as adults. This blog breaks down the difference between stress and anxiety and offers tips for supportive practices that may help alleviate the impact of mounting stress or chronic anxiety.
Worry, Stress, & Anxiety
Stress: We all have worries & stress in our daily lives. It is natural and in many ways general stress and worry serve us. And in fact, not all stress or worry is “bad.” If we didn’t know that walking across a busy road was dangerous, we wouldn’t look both ways before crossing. Our risk of getting hit by a bus would be rather high. But our fear of being hit, helps to reinforce looking both ways and waiting for the cars to pass before walking across the street. If we didn’t have a general fear response, our species wouldn’t have made it as far as we have. We have learned over time which things are dangerous or risky and we convey these basic dangers to our children in order to lessen risk and ensure a longer, healthier life - look both ways before crossing, don’t touch the hot stove, stranger danger, etc.
Good stress: Some worry and stress can be good. Some stresses are “positive” stress. They are the result of positive life experiences. For example, there’s stress and excitement when we go to a new school or start a new job, when we plan a celebration such as a birthday or a wedding, or we welcome a new family member into the home. Smaller positive stresses are completing a project, running a race, or trying something new.
In moderate doses, positive and negative stresses are good for us. Stress is time-limited, situational, and comes from an external source. A moderate level of stress helps children learn how to navigate the world, how to problem solve, and how to become independent humans. In adults, it helps us to continue growing, learning and thriving. However, while a little bit of stress is good, too much stress, chronic stress, and anxiety can have a negative impact on our health and our everyday lives.
What Is The Difference Between Stress and Anxiety?
Stress vs. Anxiety
Anxiety: Anxiety goes beyond general stress or worry in our everyday lives. It is persistent, comes from an internal source rather than an external source, and impacts one’s daily life. For example, the difference between constantly worrying about doing a good enough job at work despite positive feedback and therefore constantly ruminating about getting fired (anxiety), versus the impact of actually losing a job and worrying about paying the bills (stress). Anxiety moves the stress or worry to a level that is out of proportion to the actual threat, as seen in this example.
While stress can be good in small doses and helps us evolve as a species, anxiety is chronic, can inhibit us from growth, and limits our ability to live our fullest lives. In other words, anxiety often makes our world smaller.
Anxiety can present itself in many ways and may vary depending on the situation. For example, anxiety might look like:
Perfectionism
Excessive worry, care, or concern
Workaholic
Lack of focus
Hypervigilance
Over planning
Restlessness or hyperactivity
Catastrophizing
Obsessive worry
Avoidant behaviors, such as canceling plans or avoiding certain activities
Restrictive-eating or binge-eating
Disrupted sleep or challenges falling asleep
In our bodies, anxiety might feel like:
Shortness of breath
Tight chest
An all over cold sweat, sweaty feet, or sweaty hands
A hot flushing feeling
Dry mouth
Difficulty swallowing
All over agitation or tightness
Racing heart
Dizziness, unsteadiness, feeling faint
Nausea
Anxiety & Depression
Connecting to our previous blog series, anxiety and depression often go hand in hand. In fact, the comorbidity rate - meaning, those who experience two or more illnesses at the same time - in this case depression and anxiety, is roughly 60%. There’s some debate as to why this is, but it is interesting to note that in some ways these two experiences bounce between being hypo-mobilized and hyper-mobilized.
For example, depression is often viewed as an immobilized or hypo-mobile state. One’s emotions are suppressed or depressed. Sadness moves in and the excitement for life is kicked to the curb. Anxiety on the other hand is often viewed as an activated or hyper-mobile state. This isn’t a manic state, but rather a state of fear, of hypervigilance, of activation without having a place or way to release the activated fear. So it’s not unusual to go from one state to the next in a sort of swirling eddy of sadness and fear as we attempt to seek relief from the other. But it doesn’t have to be this way!
Strategies for Navigating Stress and Anxiety
Support
12 Practices for In-the-Moment Anxiety and Stress Support
Here are some tools to help you navigate stress and anxiety.
Notice. Notice your sensations. Ask yourself, what are you feeling in your body?
Honor your body. Bring your attention to your sensations and ask yourself what you need. Chest tight or short of breath? Roll your shoulders back, open up your chest, and try taking a few deep breaths. Feel like a crashing wave coming over you and you want to run and hide? Leave the room for a few minutes or crawl under a blanket. Move your body. Come back to the room. Honor your body’s need to do something, then come back and try again.
Move. Move your body. Do yoga. Stretch. Go for a run. Have a dance party. Wiggle or shake for 2 minutes.
Get out. Get outside and connect with nature. Go for a walk, sit in the yard, breath the fresh air. Feel the fresh air on your skin, the grass on your feet, and gravel under your shoes. Look at the mountains or the rolling plains, watch the birds in the sky, make shapes out of the clouds floating by.
Drink. Make some warm tea or drink a glass of water. Limit drinking things that might trigger anxiety such as caffeine and alcohol.
Feel. Find a texture that feels good to you, a soft blanket, your pet’s fur, a weighted blanket. Allow yourself to feel the textures or weight and notice how your body responds to the sensations.
Track. Try to track some of your triggers. What situations, places, foods, events, words, sensations, thoughts, etc. trigger anxiety? Can you find a pattern?
Rest: Try to get enough rest or sleep. When we are tired, it’s easier to become more agitated. If sleep is difficult, try meditation or visualize a calm space.
Eat. If you haven’t eaten, stop and make yourself something healthy to eat or grab a healthy snack. Our brains and our bodies need calories to work properly. A handful of nuts, a piece of fruit, a delicious salad, or leftovers - eat something good for you!
Breathe. Try breathing exercises, such as a 4-count inhalation, a 4-count hold, an 8-count exhalation. Do this 3 times.
Call a Friend. Connect with someone. Ask for support. Know you are not alone.
Seek Support. The therapists are Evolve in Nature are here to help you on your journey to wellness. To receive support, call or email us today!