Fear and anxiety are sometimes used interchangeably, but the two things are very different. Likewise, although fears and phobias may sound very similar on the surface, they are also a bit different. However, these differences are not well understood by those outside the psychology profession. So, here’s a simple explanation of the differences between the 3 concepts:
Fear
Let’s start with the simplest of the 3, fear. Fear is an emotion that every human experiences in stressful or dangerous situations. It is brought on when the human mind perceives a threat. The fear acts a sort of warning that something is coming and that you should prepare yourself. See, fear is a sort of primal emotion. It is one of the base emotions along with anger, horror, joy, and panic.
Fear is part of evolution, it is intended to help us survive through potentially dangerous situations by keeping us alert. Because of this, fear is associated with certain symptoms like tensed muscles (so as to make it easier to quickly react), sweaty palms, higher blood pressure, and a feeling of being on edge. All of these symptoms would presumably help you react faster in a fearful situation. For example, a soldier in the middle of battle would find the tensed muscles and feeling of being on edge helpful.
Fears are triggered by real, quantitative threats that you can see as opposed to abstract things. This will become clearer as you read more about anxiety below.
Anxiety
Anxiety may sound very similar to fear on the surface, but they are actually quite different. In the previous section, we described how fear is an emotional response to a threat that you can actually see. Anxiety differs in the fact that it is best described as having apprehension or feelings of unpleasantness over unrealistic fears. For example, seeing a deadly animal charge at you would trigger fear in most people. The reason being is that the animal is a real threat, our brains know that it is a threat and thus triggers the fear emotion to help you prepare to deal with the threat.
However, if someone makes an investment and is constantly worried over whether it will succeed or not, then we call that anxiety. The reason being that there is no physical thing to be scared of. The person has really no control over whether the investment fails or not. Anxiety often causes distinct symptoms, such as an inability to sleep, shortness of breath, chest pains, headaches, muscle pains, and shaking. As you can see from the symptoms, anxiety differs quite a bit from regular fear.
Phobias
Phobias are closely related to fear, but they differ in one key aspect. See, fear is rational, it is caused by an actual threat. When someone is afraid of something, usually there is a good reason why. Phobias, on the other hand, are irrational fears of objects, people, and things like that. It can be a bit difficult to distinguish between fear and a phobia, but it is possible.
For example, if someone knows has a venomous spider in their home, then they have a reasonable fear of that spider and will take care of it. But they do not spend every moment of their life worried over the presence of spiders. On the other hand, someone who has an actual phobia of spiders will constantly be worried about spiders and will actively seek to avoid them, even if it means significantly changing their lives around. For example, one doctor had a patient who had a phobia of spiders that was so intense that she refused to leave the house for fear that they might be out there!
How to overcome anxiety
Overcoming anxiety is not easy. Extreme cases of anxiety disorder may need medication and//or therapy to be truly corrected. Those who suffer from mild anxiety can get over it by practicing stress control techniques. Things like meditation or just sitting and breathing deeply for a few minutes can help people get through bouts of anxiety. It is also important to take your mind off whatever is causing anxiety.
How to overcome phobias
The key to overcoming phobias is gradual exposure to whatever it is that the phobia is based on, in the hopes of helping to show yourself that your irrational fear is just that, irrational. For example, someone who has a phobia of spiders would overcome it by gradually exposing themselves to spiders. First, they would start by looking at pictures or footage of them. Then they would move up to actually seeing them in person, and finally, they would end by actually touching one. Now, this sounds simple, but overcoming phobias is not easy and it is very likely that a person may have to attempt a step multiple times.
