Stress Anxiety and Panic Attacks- What is the difference!

Stress is a cognitive and emotional process. Stress can come from any situation or thought that makes you feel frustrated, angry, nervous, or even anxious. What is stressful to one person is not necessarily stressful to another. There is also good (excitement) and bad stress. Too much stress may cause a range of health problems including infection, headaches, upset stomach, high blood pressure - even strokes and heart disease.

Anxiety is a feeling of apprehension, doubt or fear about whether an event will occur or the outcome of the event. The source of this uneasiness is not always known or recognized, which can add to the distress you feel. Anxiety is often accompanied by physical symptoms, including: twitching or trembling, muscle tension, headaches, sweating, dry mouth, difficulty swallowing, abdominal pain, and other symptoms like dizziness, irregular heart rate, rapid breathing, etc.

A panic attack is a sudden episode of intense fear (very frightening situation) that develops for no apparent reason and that triggers severe physical reactions. When panic attacks occur, you might think you are loosing control, going crazy, having a heart attack, stroke or even dying.