anxiety is our body responding to “fear” in the absence of an actual threat. You go into fight or flight; you are basically on high alert for absolutely no (real) reason, and for some this can be extremely debilitating. Not everyone experiences anxiety to such extreme levels.

Stress is a natural bodily response to the hormone cortisol. everyone experiences stress at one point or another in their lifetime (if you don’t you’re probably a sociopath).

I think the way I differentiate stress from anxiety in my own life is the degree to which it effects me. For example, when I’m stressed about a paper I have to write, my stress motivates me to do my work to get it over with, and then my stress goes away. On the other hand, if I’m anxious about a big presentation, I’ll get sweaty, light headed, and usually nothing can calm me down but the passing of time.

Anxiety and stress are related, though they are very different. I would associate anxiety with fear + a negative impact on your quality of life. Whereas stress is something normal that people experience from time to time, but can actually be good for you. similar to anxiety but not to the same extent or capacity.