The difference between anxiety and nervousness relates to symptom intensity, duration, and specificity. People feel nervous in anticipation of an event, threat, or situation. Anxiety disorders can be more generalized but are persistent and long-lasting conditions.
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What Is Anxiety?
Anxiety is a normal stress response and alerts you to danger. However, endless worry may stem from a diagnosable anxiety disorder.1 There are many types of anxiety disorders, each presenting different symptoms. For example, social anxiety disorder includes fear and avoidance of social events, while separation anxiety relates to fears of separation from caregivers or parents.1 Anxiety disorders are persistent and long-lasting, often resulting in distress and impaired functioning.
Signs and symptoms of anxiety may include:
- Feeling restless, on edge, or tense
- Anticipating danger or feeling despair
- Increased heart rate
- Rapid breathing
- Sweating or trembling
- Fatigue
- Difficult concentrating on anything other than the present worry
- Insomnia
- Stomach cramps or other GI issues
- Excessive worry
- Avoiding anything that may trigger anxiety1
What Is Nervousness?
Nervousness is an acute unpleasant experience felt when anticipating future events or threats. A person who feels nervous will experience relief once an event passes or they reach a resolution.
Signs and symptoms of nervousness may include:
- Feelings a pit in your stomach
- Shutting down
- Difficulty speaking
- Racing thoughts
- Embarrassment
What Is the Difference Between Anxiety & Nervousness?
The difference between anxiety and nervousness is that anxiety is a normal stress response that can become a diagnosable and persistent disorder, whereas nervousness is an emotion that subsides. The lines between nervousness and anxiety are often blurred, but the symptom intensity, duration, and specificity set the two experiences apart.
Differences between feeling anxious and nervous include:
- Length of time: Nervous episodes are limited to specific events. When those events have passed, nervousness decreases. In contrast, anxiety may not have a direct cause and lingers, even after an apparent resolution.
- Intensity of symptoms: Anxiety involves intense symptoms that can be debilitating for individuals. Many people struggle to cope with these symptoms, affecting their professional, relational, and daily lives. Nervousness, on the other hand, is typically short-lived and easier to overcome.
- Specificity: Individuals feel nervous about specific events or threats, while anxiety is more generalized.
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How to Identify Nervousness Vs. Anxiety
You can tell the difference between nervousness and anxiety by how long the feelings last. If feelings pass after an anticipated event, it is likely normal nervousness. If anxious feelings persist, you may be dealing with anxiety stemming from a disorder or unregulated stress.
Additionally, if you find that your feelings cause distress, which gives you issues sleeping, eating, or interacting with others, this is likely anxiety and not simple nervousness. If you are still unable to differentiate, chatting with your primary care provider or seeking the expertise of a mental health professional may be beneficial.
Here are questions to ask yourself that can help you figure out if you are experiencing anxiety or nervousness:
- Are my feelings of anxiety/nervousness connected to an anticipated event?
- Do the feelings go away after the event passes?
- Do my feelings of anxiety/nervousness seem to last for days or weeks on end?
- Are my symptoms bad enough to cause lasting physical symptoms that interfere with my daily life?
How to Cope With Feeling Anxious or Nervous
Coping skills for anxiety offer productive and healthy ways to combat nervousness or anxiety symptoms. Grounding yourself in the present, deep breathing, and accepting your feelings can go a long way in managing nervousness or anxiety. If you are experiencing anxiety, addressing the underlying causes is also essential.
- Try the 54321 method: The 54321 method encourages you to engage your senses by identifying five things in your environment. Name five things you can see, four you can hear, three you can smell, two you can taste, and one you can feel.
- Focus on your breathing: When people are anxious or nervous, they often experience trouble breathing or shortness of breath. Take time to deliberately slow your breathing to relax. Breathing exercises for anxiety can be a powerful way to combat negative emotions.
- Gauge how proportionate your response is: Consider whether your present worry is “too much” or inappropriate for the circumstance. Acknowledging that your anxiety is out of proportion can help you explore alternative explanations.
- Describe your anxiety clearly: Describing your anxiety, whether in your mind or using an anxiety journal prompt, can be one way to gain insight into your worries.
- Break down the anxiety: If you are worried or anxious, break down tasks into appropriate steps. Focus on one thing at a time.
- Take care of yourself throughout your day: Taking breaks for different types of self-care can reduce cortisol and stress levels.2
- Take baby steps toward your goal: Focus on putting one step in front of the other to achieve your goal. For nervousness, break down each step to the anticipated event. For anxiety, focus on making small steps towards receiving treatment and developing coping skills.
When Does Anxiety Become a Disorder?
Anxiety is a normal response to stressful situations. Anxiety becomes a diagnosable disorder when it causes significant distress in daily life, relationships, and personal goals for at least six months. Most people with anxiety are diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder, which has symptoms such as excessive worry, fatigue, restlessness, irritability, muscle tension, and sleep disturbances.
When to Seek Professional Support
If you are losing sleep, having difficulty concentrating, or cannot accomplish tasks due to anxiety, consider seeking professional support. Statistics show that over 7% of the global population experience an anxiety disorder at some point.3 Given such a high prevalence rate, experts have researched and thoroughly developed anxiety treatment methods.
A local therapist directory is a great tool for finding therapists who specialize in treating anxiety disorders and take your insurance. If you prefer to see a therapist remotely, there are many online therapy services that can also provide specialists. For more severe anxiety, anti-anxiety medication may be beneficial. An online psychiatry service is an easy and accessible way to explore medication options.
In My Experience
Frequently Asked Questions
Why Do I Always Feel Nervous & Anxious?
An upcoming stressor can cause nervousness and symptoms like racing thoughts, muscle tension, and feeling a “pit” in the stomach. Generally, once the stressor has passed, the feelings of nervousness should also pass. If you are always feeling anxious, you may be suffering from an anxiety disorder. People with anxiety disorders find it difficult to turn off their stress response after a stressor has passed.
Can Nervousness Turn Into Anxiety?
Nervousness does not turn into anxiety, although they can both feel similar in the body. Nervousness is an emotion that subsides after a stressor has resolved, whereas anxiety is a normal stress response to the environment. However, if anxiety persists, it can become a diagnosable disorder if it causes significant upset to a person’s well-being and relationships.
Choosing Therapy strives to provide our readers with mental health content that is accurate and actionable. We have high standards for what can be cited within our articles. Acceptable sources include government agencies, universities and colleges, scholarly journals, industry and professional associations, and other high-integrity sources of mental health journalism. Learn more by reviewing our full editorial policy.
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American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596
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Krajewski, J., Sauerland, M., & Wieland, R. (2011). Relaxation‐induced cortisol changes within lunch breaks–an experimental longitudinal worksite field study. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 84(2), 382-394.
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Baxter, A. J., et al. (2013). Global prevalence of anxiety disorders: a systematic review and meta-regression. Psychological medicine, 43(5), 897-910
We regularly update the articles on ChoosingTherapy.com to ensure we continue to reflect scientific consensus on the topics we cover, to incorporate new research into our articles, and to better answer our audience’s questions. When our content undergoes a significant revision, we summarize the changes that were made and the date on which they occurred. We also record the authors and medical reviewers who contributed to previous versions of the article. Read more about our editorial policies here.
Author: Kevin Mimms, LMFT (No Change)
Medical Reviewer: Kristen Fuller, MD (No Change)
Primary Changes: Added sections titled “When Does Anxiety Become a Disorder?”, and “FAQS”. New content written by Christina Canuto, LMFT-A, and medically reviewed by Kristen Fuller, MD. Fact-checked and edited for improved readability and clarity.
Author: Kevin Mimms, LMFT
Reviewer: Kristen Fuller, MD
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Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a psychiatric condition marked by the presence of obsessive thoughts, images, doubts, or urges, followed by compulsive behaviors or acts aimed at easing the distress caused by the obsession. While the content of the obsessions can take many forms, they are always repetitive, persistent, involuntary, and intrusive, and they often result in a great deal of anxiety for the person experiencing them.