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Yahoo
26-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
The Difference Between Stress and Anxiety
Credit - Getty Images You're feeling on edge, your sleep is off, and your thoughts are racing. Is it just a stressful week, or something deeper? Stress and anxiety share many symptoms, but they're not the same thing—and coping with anxiety requires a slightly different approach than dealing with stress. Here's what to know. 'Many people use the words 'stress' and 'anxiety' interchangeably,' says Judith S. Beck, president of Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy. 'While their symptoms overlap, there are some distinctions between them.' Stress arises when a person faces demands greater than what they believe they can cope with. It often triggers negative emotions like irritation, anger, or sadness, along with physical symptoms like a fast heart rate, an upset stomach, and tense muscles. Stress often has a clear external cause and is situation-dependent. Once the event passes, 'the intensity of a stress response usually decreases,' Beck says. Read More: Are You Just Tired or Truly Burned Out? Anxiety, on the other hand, can show up even when there's no clear trigger, and it tends to linger. It's also typically disproportionate to any stressful situation in a person's life. Stress can escalate into anxiety. 'Stress and anxiety may be on a continuum,' Beck says. 'If stress continues, and efforts to overcome it do not work, individuals may develop an anxiety disorder.' When you're stressed, your body kicks into fight-or-flight mode. You pump out cortisol and adrenaline, your heart rate increases, you may get short of breath, and your body becomes more activated. It's your body saying, 'Let's handle this.' This response is helpful when there is a short-term challenge, but can be deleterious if chronically activated. Stress responses resolve when the threat or demand subsides. Read More: How to Deal With a Narcissist Anxiety disorders, however, involve a more sustained state of heightened arousal and vigilance. 'With anxiety, that same system might stay activated, even when there's no real danger. Your brain is stuck in a loop of anticipating problems, so your body keeps reacting as if there's something to fix, even when there isn't,' says Nina Westbrook, a marriage and family therapist and founder of the digital wellness community Bene. 'It's exhausting, because your nervous system isn't getting a break.' Accurately labeling your emotional experiences like stress or anxiety can be a first step in selecting the best coping strategy or treatment. 'Naming what you're feeling is more powerful than you might think,' says Westbrook. 'It gives you a starting point. If you can say, 'This is stress,' you can start to connect the feeling to the source.' Stress might be addressed in many different ways, depending on the trigger. If you're sweating an upcoming presentation, for instance, better time-management might calm your nerves. In other situations, you might need to set more boundaries or ask for support, Westbrook suggests. Other stress-reduction strategies include dividing overwhelming tasks into smaller, doable steps; taking a short walk; sharing your experiences with a trusted friend; and giving yourself permission to say 'not right now,' says Beck. Read More: 7 Questions That Can Instantly Boost Your Work Relationships Handling anxiety doesn't rely as much on addressing any single trigger, since the emotion tends to persist throughout different situations. 'You might shift focus to calming your nervous system and working on grounding practices or techniques that you know work for you,' Westbrook says. Anxiety might also require more intensive cognitive-behavioral interventions aimed at changing negative thought patterns. Deep breathing, mindfulness practices, and regular physical activity can all help reduce anxiety symptoms in the moment and over time. Westbrook recommends routinely limiting stimulation, cutting back on caffeine and social media, setting up and sticking to a routine, and practicing positive self-talk to deal with anxiety 'Therapy can be a game-changer too,' says Westbrook. 'It gives you tools, but more importantly, a safe space to process.' Contact us at letters@
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Low-calorie diets linked to surprising mental health effect, new research shows
Embarking on a low-calorie diet could potentially lead to negative mental health, researchers in Toronto, Canada, have revealed. A new study, published in BMJ Nutrition, Prevention and Health, investigated how the adoption of restrictive diets could instigate depressive symptoms. Using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, researchers analyzed nearly 29,000 adults who reported their dietary habits and also completed a mental health questionnaire. Rates Of Dementia Are Lower In People Who Eat This Specific Diet, Research Shows Nearly 8% of these adults reported depressive symptoms. Compared to those who did not follow a specific diet, those who stuck to a calorie-restrictive diet — including overweight individuals — saw an increase in depressive symptom severity, the study found. Read On The Fox News App People who followed a nutrient-restricted diet saw a larger increase in symptoms, while men who followed any diet reportedly showed "higher somatic symptom scores" compared to non-dieters. The researchers concluded that there are "potential implications of widely followed diets on depressive symptoms, and a need for tailored dietary recommendations based on BMI and sex." Judith S. Beck, PhD, president of the Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy in Pennsylvania, reacted to these findings in an interview with Fox News Digital. The expert, who was not involved in the research, noted that it only showed an association between low-calorie diets and depression. 10 Best Diets Of 2025 As Chosen By Nutrition Experts "This is an important distinction, [because] correlation does not equal causation, and having a few depressive symptoms does not mean you have the condition of depression," she said. Beck noted that depression and negative emotions can also be caused by multiple cognitive, emotional or behavioral factors that are "more directly associated with depressive symptoms." Certified holistic nutritionist Robin DeCicco in New York City commented that most Americans would benefit from losing weight, as 70% of Americans are overweight or obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This can be done by reducing the intake of sugary drinks and processed foods, and learning how to incorporate more whole foods like lean protein, vegetables, fruits and nuts, recommended DeCicco, who also was not involved in the study. This Weight Loss Plan Performs Better Than Traditional Dieting, Study Finds The nutritionist also warned against following fad diets. "It's not sustainable or healthy to follow these trends because, most often, they are not educating the public on the type of nutrients you need to function mentally and physically, which is why it doesn't surprise me that people can experience depressive and cognitive-affective symptoms when losing weight." The quality of calories "matters dramatically," DeCicco noted. "While weight loss is about calories in and calories out, it's also about the type of calories and what we need for fuel, protection against disease, and mental and physical satisfaction," she said. "Food has the power to help us or harm us, and if we're not eating certain foods known to promote mental well-being, we will definitely suffer from cognitive impairment and unstable mood." As an example, cutting out fats because they're high in calories — like salmon, avocado, olive oil and nuts — also cuts out nutrients like omega-3 fatty acids, which can reduce inflammation, prevent disease and improve cognition, mood and brain health, DeCicco noted. "If someone wants to lose weight but also has a health history of cognitive decline or is diagnosed with depression, it is even more important to emphasize the food groups mentioned above," DeCicco added. Click Here To Sign Up For Our Health Newsletter Beck echoed the importance of eating in a "very healthy way," while also recommending that people consider cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). For more Health articles, visit "CBT helps people learn the cognitive (thinking) and behavioral skills they need to eat as healthily as possible given their circumstances, and to change their thinking so they can make long-term changes in their eating and improve their overall health," she said. Fox News Digital reached out to the study researchers for article source: Low-calorie diets linked to surprising mental health effect, new research shows
