Throughout our lives, we experience a variety of different circumstances and situations that would result to us experiencing different kinds of emotions. Some situations can cause us to experience positive feelings and emotions such as joy and excitement. Other times, we experience situations and circumstances that would bring about feelings of loneliness, loss, sadness, fear and anxiety. Though we eventually recuperate from these negative emotions, the effects these situations and circumstances have on us can be so profound that it eventually affects us later on in our lives.

Fear and anxiety often make us have very similar symptoms such as muscle tension, increased heart rate and shortness of breath brought about by the body’s flight-or-fight instinct. It is no surprise then that for many of us, fear and anxiety pretty much refer to the same thing. But as far as psychologists are concerned, fear and anxiety are two completely different disorders that require different types of treatments.

Fear is referred to as an emotional response towards a situation whereby an individual feels threatened. The cause of the threat is realistic in nature. Oftentimes, fear towards a particular situation or event is brought about by a traumatic experience that the individual experienced earlier on in their life. The effect of this traumatic event is carried by the individual throughout his or her entire life so much so that when the individual finds himself or herself in a similar situation, he or she begins to exhibit the symptoms mentioned above.

On the other hand, anxiety is considered to be a psychological disorder where the individual experience symptoms similar to those that who face fearful situations or circumstances. The difference between anxieties and fear is that, unlike fear, symptoms leading to anxiety occur even though there is no apparent risk or cause for physical harm to occur. More often than not, the cause for the individual to feel anxious cannot be pinpointed. This is in stark contrast with fear where the individual can readily determine the root cause of their fears. Those that suffer from anxiety find themselves helpless and unable to cope with the symptoms so much so that it begins to interfere with their daily activities and interactions with other people. Anxiety is often one of the primary causes of other psychological disorders such as depression and personality disorders.

On the other hand, fear can often cause the individual to be empowered to deal with this and overcome this. Because they are able to determine the root cause of their fear, they are able to look into options that would help them overcome these fears and be able to live a rather normal life.

More on Anxiety and Fear.