Anxiety and Fear, the difference
Fear is an alarm signal about something threatening your safety now. Anxiety is persistent worry about what might go wrong.
Each in a line
Anxiety
Anxiety is persistent worry about what might go wrong. The body braces for something that has not happened, and may never happen. Fear has a target you can point at. Anxiety often has no clear object, yet the body still reacts.
Fear family
Fear
Fear is the body's alarm that something threatens your safety. The heart speeds, the breath shortens, the senses sharpen. Energy moves to the muscles for fight, flight, or freeze. Unlike anxiety, fear has a present and specific object.
Fear family
Pleasantness and energy
Where each lives in the body
Anxiety
Head
Pressure, fullness, mental load
Chest
Tightness or warmth
Stomach
A sinking pull or knot
Shoulders
Slight rise
Fear
Head
Pressure, fullness, mental load
Face
Heat, flush, expression building
Chest
Tightness or warmth
Stomach
A sinking pull or knot
Hands
Slight movement
Legs
Light awareness
How long they last
Duration has not been measured for these words.
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