Feeling of restlessness, restlessness and insecurity. Feeling of oppression, suffocation, and fear. Unpleasant sensations that can be difficult to define. Do you know how to name what you feel? Are we talking about anxiety or anguish? In this Psychology-Online article, we are going to understand the difference between them and we will see what the symptoms and causes of each are. Keep reading to know the 4 differences between anxiety and anguish.
Anxiety is experiencing a feeling scared and uneasy. An individual becomes anxious when he fears something, when he experiences a difficult situation and feels insecure, it is a normal reaction to stress. Anxiety is a emotional reaction that arises in response to situations of alarm, situations of uncertain outcome and prepares the individual to act upon them. It is a reaction generally experienced as an unpleasant experience that puts the individual on alert, leaves him active and makes him think faster.
Anxiety, above all, is an emotion that serves as a defense mechanism to survive. It is a state of alert that prepares the individual at a cognitive, physiological and motor level to face, avoid or flee from real or imagined dangerous situations.
It is important to say that anxiety disorders are diseases in which anxiety does not go away and worsens over time. Its symptoms interfere with the individual's daily activities, affecting his performance at work, school and in interpersonal relationships.
Causes of anxiety
Anxiety does not have a specific cause, the individual may suffer from anxiety due to genetic factors, by the biology and chemistry of your brain, by the stress accumulated over a long period, by living situations with a high emotional charge, for being a person who feels frequent fears, for leading a disorganized life, or even, for having some addiction. There are many factors that can lead a person to feel anxiety.
Symptoms of anxiety
When anxiety occurs, the individual may experience some symptoms, such as:
- Tachycardia
- Difficulty breathing
- Shortness of breath
- Sweating
- Shaking
- Dizziness
- Sickness
- Diarrhea
- Urgency to urinate
- Muscle tension
- Irritability
- Agitation
- Restlessness
- Tension
- Insomnia
- Excessive worry
- Negative thoughts
- Behavior changes
To diagnose an anxiety disorder, the health professional will ask the individual about his symptoms, if the professional is a doctor, may order tests to exclude the possibility of other health problems, and, when confirmed the absence of any health problem, the individual may undergo a psychological evaluation, which in due course may be carried out by a psychologist. That way, the individual will be able to start a treatment.
To begin with, when we look for the origin of the word anguish, we see that it comes from the Latin anguish which means narrow. If we think about it, narrow means tight, tight, compressed, narrow. When the individual feels the heart narrow, narrow, it is because he is experiencing anguish.
Anguish is a state of very intense restlessness or restlessness caused by something unpleasant. It's a feeling of grief and a feeling of oppression and suffocation. It is usually accompanied by intense psychological discomfort and by some alterations in the body.
Causes of distress
The causes of distress can be diverse and will depend on the particularity of each individual. In fact, there is no exact cause for distress. However, it is linked to a number of factors.
If a first-degree relative has panic disorder, then the individual is probably also suffering from the genetic load. It can also be caused by a stressful event like a separation or death of a loved one.
It is important for the individual to be vigilant to identify what is causing certain symptoms so that he can seek appropriate treatment.
Symptoms of distress
The individual with distress usually presents some of these symptoms:
- Shortness of breath
- Chest tightness
- Feeling flushed
- Chest pain
- Fear
- Dry mouth
- Sweating
- Fatigue
- Sleep disorders
- Dizziness
- Sickness
- Impotence
- Hopelessness
- Affraid to die
- Shaking chills
- Tremors
- Feeling of being in an environment of unreality
For a diagnosis of panic disorder to be made, it is necessary that the individual present unexpectedly, recurring and for no apparent reason symptoms over a period of one month such as minimum.
It is common for people to think that they are suffering from distress when in reality it is anxiety or vice versa. Therefore, we are going to see what are the differences between anxiety and anguish and how we can identify each of them:
1. The definition
- Anxiety: emotional response to a survival mechanism in the face of a possible threat.
- Anguish: reaction of intense fear disproportionate to the stimulus that causes it.
2. The main physical symptoms
- Anxiety: breathing difficulties and shortness of breath.
- Anguish: tightness in the heart area, tachycardia, gastric discomfort and burning.
3. Psychological state
- Anxiety: negative thoughts about the future, fear, and feelings of bad omens.
- Anguish: intense emotional pain, a state of accumulated tension and manifestation of restlessness.
4. Perception
- Anxiety: the individual perceives anxiety with total clarity.
- Anguish: the individual has a diffuse perception, it is as if internally everything passes slowly.
In the following articles, you will find more information about what the anxiety crisis and the different types of anxiety.
This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
