what is the difference between anxiety and stress?

stevow7

stevow7

Well known member
I do have high cortisol levels and I do have OCD.
symptoms like having trouble to think straight, can't talk well, mental exhaustion and even physical are part of the symptoms I have.

How do you guys suggest treating this? Currently I feel like if my head is burning or my brain.
idk if it's burnout or something else. how would you guys suggest treating this? any books recommendations as well. I dont know if sarnos touched burnout or stress. dont remember.
 
I know it's kinda taboo to some people who are deep into TMS theory/practice but I legit had to get on a low dose of lamotrigine to help with my stress and anxiety. I've coupled this with weightlifting even when I have TMS like symptoms (it even made my migraines go away for about a month) and actual therapy.

I know some people have said that you may develop a flare up in stress and anxiety when the physical symptom imperative kinda runs out of steam, so, maybe its a sign you're heading in the right direction??

https://mytmsjourney.com/resources/increased-anxiety-and-other-symptoms-on-your-recovery-journey/ (Increased anxiety (and other symptoms) on your recovery journey)
 
I would read The End of Self Help. This book was a game changer for me when it came to my mental health. I don't read TMS books anymore. I realize that the way they explain the way the mind works just contributed to my anxiety and depression.
 
Aurora said:
I would read The End of Self Help. This book was a game changer for me when it came to my mental health. I don't read TMS books anymore. I realize that the way they explain the way the mind works just contributed to my anxiety and depression.
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Same here, I can't read TMS books anymore. My mind is just too analytical and I get mentally tired reading them.

The author of the book you kindly recommended has also a blog. It's very good and helpful. Link bellow:

https://gailbrenner.com/blog/ (Blog - Dr. Gail Brenner)
 
Sita said:
Same here, I can't read TMS books anymore. My mind is just too analytical and I get mentally tired reading them.

The author of the book you kindly recommended has also a blog. It's very good and helpful. Link bellow:

https://gailbrenner.com/blog/ (Blog - Dr. Gail Brenner)
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Same here too. Thanks for recommending Gail Brenner's blog; so far, I particularly like this blog entry which makes me realise how tense I am when I don't even realise it and what I can do about it https://gailbrenner.com/2021/12/soften-something/ (Soften Something - Dr. Gail Brenner). Great stuff.
 
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I have been wondering, what's the main difference between the two? anxiety you feel it while stress?

how do you know the cause of mental exhaustion and how to relieve it?
 
Hello, stevow7! Since both topics ask about the difference between stress and anxiety as well as the remedy, I merged your new thread with your previous thread. This will allow your active responses from other users to be part of the discussion as well.

I define stress as a bodily response to intense situations or events. I view anxiety as one of the many potential responses to stress. Mental exhaustion occurs when you’re constantly in fight-or-flight mode from stress. The remedy will be tailored based on the individual and their unique circumstances, but should always aim to help one balance and manage their emotions and situation.
 
Dorado said:
Hello, stevow7! Since both topics ask about the difference between stress and anxiety as well as the remedy, I merged your new thread with your previous thread. This will allow your active responses from other users to be part of the discussion as well.

I define stress as a bodily response to intense situations or events. I view anxiety as one of the many potential responses to stress. Mental exhaustion occurs when you’re constantly in fight-or-flight mode from stress. The remedy will be tailored based on the individual and their unique circumstances, but should always aim to help one balance and manage their emotions and situation.
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thanks so much. do you recommend me doing what I like to do sometimes (going to the gym) even if I fear going because it could make things worst?
 
stevow7 said:
thanks so much. do you recommend me doing what I like to do sometimes (going to the gym) even if I fear going because it could make things worst?
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If your medical team has not diagnosed you with any conditions and/or expressed any concerns that would necessitate avoiding the gym, then I say YES - go to the gym!

The mind-body connection can make us sensitive to stimuli physically, mentally, and emotionally. I couldn’t even drink a half glass of wine without serious nerve pain, visible rashes and twitching, headaches, etc. Now I drink half a bottle of wine every Friday and Saturday night with no problem. Nada, nothing. I should’ve listened to my favorite neurologist sooner when he said I didn’t have alcoholic neuropathy at 26 years old - my body was simply in fight-or-flight mode and overreacting to stimuli.

I want to emphasize that this problem of mine didn’t go away in a single day. I continued to get symptoms after I started drinking 1 to 2 glasses of wine (6 oz per glass - I’m not one of those winos drinking single glasses as big as a bottle ;)). I had to truly believe I was safe and not experiencing symptoms from nerve damage. This belief allowed the symptoms to fully dissipate over the course of a couple of weekends. This was also the case with medical cannabis, but I trusted cannabis so much that the symptoms discontinued without real any effort on my part - not fearing the natural green plant made all the difference. Alcohol, however, terrified me given what I’d read about alcoholic neuropathy. Although I wasn’t an alcoholic, the nerve pain I was experiencing was shocking and seemed unexplainable. Once I understood that the symptoms were simply the result of an overactive sympathetic nervous system and not dangerous, I was on the path to becoming truly free.

Working out has so many wonderful effects on our emotional health. Try to focus on the endless benefits of exercise. You’re getting stronger, not weaker! Eventually, you’ll retrain your brain to stop going over potential dangers that (I’m assuming) no medical professional has flagged for you. Practicing mindfulness during and after exercise should also help. But given your fear of physical symptoms, I would refrain from focusing on how you feel and instead observe the objects around you, colors, sounds, etc.

You clearly enjoy working out. It would be a shame to deprive yourself of that. Just like it would be very sad for me to never enjoy a few glasses of red wine again. We can’t let our fears take everything away from us! Remember that balance is everything. Continue working with your doctors on any disordered eating. You should feel positive about the fact that you have a collaborative team looking out for you. They aren’t going to let anything happen to you!
 
The difference between stress and anxiety is very straightforward.

Stress is external, it is a set of pressures that drove your mind and/or body to the overdrive, aka to the limits of ability to cope in a normal way. Each person may have a different threshold of stress tolerance; what is a normal pressure for some is too much for others.

Your mindbody may respond in various ways:

1. Mental (depression, anxiety, fear, anger, etc)
2. Physical (fatigue, various pains, skin rashes, hives, acne etc, muscle anomalies like twitching, spasms, acid reflux etc)
3. All the above and more.

Anxiety is just one of many mental responses to the stress, a healthy evolutionary mechanism developed by Mother Nature. However, when your mind can no longer cope, it goes into overdrive and anxiety becomes overwhelming. For more details - if I may - here is my blog post on anxiety:

https://defeatcrps.com/blogs/tamaras-blog/#anxiety (Tamara’s Blog)

To those who are fed up with reading books on mindbody but are still in pain and/or anxiety, it is my personal belief that we all ended up on this forum because our unmanaged anxiety got us here. I also believe that there is no book cure for anxiety, only a deliberate systematic de-sensitization can get us out of it. Even now, 4 years after I defeated my CRPS and other symptoms, I have bouts of anxiety now and then. Instead of getting frustrated about it, I recognize that getting anxious easily is part of my genetic makeup, and the only way through it is to follow the same recipes I got from Dr. Claire Weekes, which is de-sensitizing myself to each flare-up, one at a time. Over time, I am getting better at recognizing the rise of anxiety and respond sooner and more efficiently, but I will never be fully immune to it, which is fine by me, as long as I can resolve it quickly enough.
 
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Dorado said:
If your medical team has not diagnosed you with any conditions and/or expressed any concerns that would necessitate avoiding the gym, then I say YES - go to the gym!

The mind-body connection can make us sensitive to stimuli physically, mentally, and emotionally. I couldn’t even drink a half glass of wine without serious nerve pain, visible rashes and twitching, headaches, etc. Now I drink half a bottle of wine every Friday and Saturday night with no problem. Nada, nothing. I should’ve listened to my favorite neurologist sooner when he said I didn’t have alcoholic neuropathy at 26 years old - my body was simply in fight-or-flight mode and overreacting to stimuli.

I want to emphasize that this problem of mine didn’t go away in a single day. I continued to get symptoms after I started drinking 1 to 2 glasses of wine (6 oz per glass - I’m not one of those winos drinking single glasses as big as a bottle ;)). I had to truly believe I was safe and not experiencing symptoms from nerve damage. This belief allowed the symptoms to fully dissipate over the course of a couple of weekends. This was also the case with medical cannabis, but I trusted cannabis so much that the symptoms discontinued without real any effort on my part - not fearing the natural green plant made all the difference. Alcohol, however, terrified me given what I’d read about alcoholic neuropathy. Although I wasn’t an alcoholic, the nerve pain I was experiencing was shocking and seemed unexplainable. Once I understood that the symptoms were simply the result of an overactive sympathetic nervous system and not dangerous, I was on the path to becoming truly free.

Working out has so many wonderful effects on our emotional health. Try to focus on the endless benefits of exercise. You’re getting stronger, not weaker! Eventually, you’ll retrain your brain to stop going over potential dangers that (I’m assuming) no medical professional has flagged for you. Practicing mindfulness during and after exercise should also help. But given your fear of physical symptoms, I would refrain from focusing on how you feel and instead observe the objects around you, colors, sounds, etc.

You clearly enjoy working out. It would be a shame to deprive yourself of that. Just like it would be very sad for me to never enjoy a few glasses of red wine again. We can’t let our fears take everything away from us! Remember that balance is everything. Continue working with your doctors on any disordered eating. You should feel positive about the fact that you have a collaborative team looking out for you. They aren’t going to let anything happen to you!
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thanks so much for your reply. It does seems to me that I have a problem with mental fatigue, and I can’t seem to lose focus on that or focus in other things.
 
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