Introduction

Most people often think fear and anxiety are the same things. It is important to understand how they are different in terms of their emotions. Make sure that nothing is assumed when it comes to mental health or the person experiences different behaviors, which are not correct in any manner. Let’s make you understand in detail, how they are different from each other and what people experience with it.

What is Fear?

Fear comes when you are afraid about something. All because of our 5 senses we can understand what happens around us:

• Hearing
• Tasting
• Smelling
• Touch
• Seeing

For example, We can smell the smoke, hear someone coming towards us, see a deadly animal coming towards us, and much more. Through these, the brain will switch to the fear response.

Happens on its own

The feeling of fear occurs when we are not able to control the emotions or the way we react to a certain situation. Although, there is no control over such things. Due to fear, the body has to go through many changes in the body.

Just imagine: Sometimes it scares us when you hear a horn or sometimes it tries to scare us by hiding. Under such a situation, it makes our hearts beat so fast. It is our natural response to such situations and we are designed in such a way that we cannot bypass such things.

What is anxiety?

It might feel like anxiety and fear are similar to each other. Anxiety is the reaction to something dangerous which happens in the environment. It is the impulse that is created in the body. Due to anxiety, it feels like we are being pushed down. It is also seen that we try to push down those things which result in fear and that occurs due to different reasons like:

• The fearful situation is not needed or not considered right by others.
• A Dangerous situation cannot be escaped at one time.
• Too many emotions to respond to or understand what to do.
• Fear often gets combined with values, beliefs, and when someone asks us to do something.
• Fear seems unmanageable and overwhelming.

Anxiety is confusing in itself because it might be triggered due to something which did not happen the way we wanted or something bad which we have experienced in the past. In such a case, it is important to consult the psychiatrist, as he can understand due to which condition it is being influenced from the past. His expertise will help to manage your condition on time.

What are the symptoms of anxiety and fear?

Anxiety	Fear
Feeling nervous, restless, or tense	Rapid heartbeat
Having a sense of doom	Shortness of breath
Increased heart rate	Sweating
Trouble concentrating	Trembling
Shortness of breath, Sweating, Dizziness, Trouble sleeping, and Ear ringing	Chills
Gastrointestinal (GI) distress	Nausea
Having difficulty controlling worry/ruminating Having the urge to avoid things that trigger anxiety
Feeling insecure	Dry mouth

How anxiety and fear are processed?

• In terms of fear, our body calms down when we feel safe or we feel like there is no danger to our body. Fear is felt in the body through deep belly breathing and feels like trembling.
• In terms of anxiety, we simply do not just need to be calmed down but it makes it easier to get to the core emotions.

If a person feels anxious, it is important to look for a place that makes us feel calm down, try to put feet on the ground, and practice deep breathing 6 times. It helps in managing emotions. During anxiety, you might identify the core emotions and something which might be deeper. For that you should ask yourself questions like:

• Do I feel angry?
• Do I feel sadness?
• Do I feel afraid?
• Do I feel disgusted?
• Do I feel excited?
• Do I feel joy?
• Do I feel sexually excited?

You must give your emotional health as much importance as it needs, like physical health. There is no need to avoid the situation and think that it is normal to experience such things and you should not put too much stress on yourself. It is better to consult a psychiatrist and get help on time.