The Difference Between Stress and Anxiety
The fundamental difference between stress and anxiety lies in their temporal positioning. Stress is triggered by current threats or challenges, while anxiety stems from thoughts about the future or the past. Humans are incredibly intelligent creatures capable of imagining countless scenarios that may be dangerous or safe. Our bodies and minds cannot distinguish between actual threats and perceived threats, making it difficult to differentiate stress from anxiety when negatively contemplating the past or future.
High-Functioning Anxiety Disorder
People with high-functioning anxiety often work at the top levels of organizations, achieving high performance and juggling many tasks at once. Some may constantly keep busy to escape anxious thoughts. Do you feel uncomfortable and anxious when you’re not doing anything? If so, you might be experiencing high-functioning anxiety or “busyness syndrome.”
Utilize the Parasympathetic Nervous System
Controlling your breathing patterns is one of the best ways to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system and combat stress responses. You can also practice simple breathing exercises. Engaging in aerobic exercise up to six hours before a stressful event can be beneficial. Just investing 20 minutes can yield calming effects that last for hours.
Negative Thinking Patterns
It can be helpful to identify what kind of negative thinking patterns you have. You can apply the ASK technique to address negative and maladaptive thoughts:
Accurate: Is this thought correct? If so, what solid evidence supports this perception?
Sensible: Is this thought rational? Does it make sense objectively?
Kind: Is this thought generous? If not, what role does this type of thinking play?
The Paradox of Perfectionism
Instead of viewing mistakes, failures, and errors with a critical eye, it’s better to approach them with curiosity and see them as opportunities. Think about what you’ve learned from mistakes and what you need to move forward. No one in this world can be perfect. If we were perfect, life would be incredibly boring.
