People use words such as anxiety and fear to talk about stress. Stress is the conviction that we won’t be able to cope with the challenges we are facing.

 

Stress can provoke anxiety, fear and worry but each represents a different emotional reaction. We can put our problems in perspective if we have a better understanding of the differences and relationships between these emotions.  

 

Learning about stress helps us to stop worrying or thinking about our problems. Our reaction to stress can be varied, fear is an instinctive reaction, usually in the face of perceived threat, our reactions can be different: escape/avoidance, aggressive defence/attack, freezing/immobility and submission/appeasement (we suppress our anger to avoid being rejected) are all common reactions to stress.

 

When fear starts to become excessive or unwarranted to the extent that it affects our quality of life and prevents us from doing what we need or want to do, it is best described as anxiety. 

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Stress is about facing our fears to make them less threatening, to make us stronger and more resilient.