Anxiety isn't fear.

In the movie Inside Out 2, the character of fear is kind of smitten by the character of anxiety. It got me wondering how they are related. Aren't fear and anxiety the same thing?

Not until I started reading Beyond Anxiety by Martha Beck did I get to see how fear and anxiety are different. Without knowing the difference, it's difficult to understand what we are feeling and how to get to the other side.

Here's Martha Beck explaining the difference:

True fear:

The fight or flight mode creates a surge of true fear, which is meant to hit hard, get us moving, and then disappear... If—and only if—our senses detect clear and present danger, true fear snaps into action, giving us the mental clarity and physical energy required to deal with the threat. As soon as safety is reestablished, it relaxes again.

Anxiety:

Anxiety, on the other hand, is more like being haunted. It pulls our attention inward to worrisome thoughts and fantasies, away from our actual physical situation in the present. Its vague sense of doom presses down on us without suggesting any constructive action. And unlike healthy fear, anxiety never relents. It may not only persist but also increase in situations where we’re completely safe.

~ Martha Beck, Beyond Anxiety