Stress vs. Anxiety

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I was thinking about this the other day when a friend mentioned that she gets sick more often when she is stressed, and wondered why I never get sick, even though I seem stressed all the time. Well, thing is, I'm not stressed all the time. I'm ANXIOUS all the time. And we got into discussing the difference between the two.

I'm hardly ever really stressed. Unfortunately, the everyday stress that I do experience acts like helium, inflating the "balloon of anxiety", until it freaking bursts.

I know that some people with AS do not have tremendous anxiety. They simply experience a lot of stress because of social and cognitive complications. Others, like me, get anxious to pathological levels, even though we're not badly stressed.

Anyways, please share your opinions and experiences, and discuss the difference between these two familiar concepts, which are all too often used almost interchangeably.

voted anxiety as I rarely are stressed just as you. But sometimes anxiety can bring on stress and viseversa....

I go through my up periods and my down periods when it comes to stress. Everything's been fine the last couple of weeks but I just got shot down by my mom today (she is extremely cruel) so I think she just blew my stress-free attitude for me. I was also stressed out all of last spring and in early July, but I was fine since then. Ugh, I hope this feeling is just for today. Everything was great this morning and she just murdered me with her words...

This was pretty close. Usually one or the other dominates my life, but thankfully rarely both. Currently stress predominates, as I have made efforts to tame anxiety in the last few years. I think of them as anxiety=future theoretical, stress=immediate situational. Lately I have felt overtaken by many simultaneous events and it will be some time before I can push back on them. In fact, all it would take is a major earthquake or meteor strike to make things more stressful...

Er, what exactly is the difference? I mean, how to you tell? I would think that stress causes anxiety. So how do you distinguish between anxiety from stress and just being stressed?
If things that might not seem stressful to others cause you anxiety, isn't it still stress?

I could be totally wrong on the true definitions, but I feel like I'm stressed when I have too many things to do, when a situation I'm in is untenable for some reason. Anxiety is more vague and unfocused. Perhaps a future situation (say a party) when I might do something stupid, so I worry about the consequences of some theoretical thing that hasn't happened. When I'm feeling stressed it is immediate, but probably is shorter-term and will be over when the situation changes (and will probably be replaced with a new stressor). Stress definitely can cause anxiety and vice versa. For me, anxiety about getting nauseus during some kind of dinner party can cause stress, which causes the nausea to no longer be theoretical--the self-fulfilling prophecy. I use various guided-imagery techniques to tone down the anxiety (often works well), but it doesn't affect my stressful situations (spending big bucks to expand my organic garden then being hit by drought resulting in severe water rationing, spouse losing job, and close family member dying suddenly) quite as well. Hopefully someone else has a better explanation.

More of anxiety. I do get stressed sometimes, but the anxiety stops me from doing things like socialising.

Here's these:
stress 3. (uncountable) Emotional pressure suffered by a human being or other animal.

anxiety (plural anxieties)

1. An unpleasant state of mental uneasiness or concern about some uncertain event.

2. An uneasy or distressing desire (for something).


3. (pathology) A state of restlessness and agitation, often accompanied by a distressing sense of oppression or tightness in the stomach.

I would say anxiety.

Anxiety. Though - a high level of anxiety automatically causes emotional stress to me, as well as physical stress because it means I can't sleep and do stupid things to feel less anxious. But anxiety is self-sustaining, outside stress without too much anxiety means that I still have the ability to do things to stop it (usually running away but whatever)

Aspie anxiety topic

There is some angst as well.

Anxiety to a lesser extent but I would have to say stress is the bigger one.

anxiety for me

both here. but i am learning how to quickly deal with stress and anxiety, now that im old. time seems to be taking care of it for me however i still have really bad days where its unbearable to live with triggering all kinds of other mental problems for me