In a book I read recently called Emotional Grit, author Dr. Neeta Bhushan outlines the difference between fear and anxiety backed by research from Daniel Cordero, a professor at the Yale Center of Emotional Intelligence. Cordero states, “Fear arises when we experience imminent danger or perceived threat in our environment. Fear is a response to present danger, whereas anxiety is actually an evolved response to an imagined threat that may occur in the future, which creates stress.”

Here is how your brain processes emotional distress:

1. Input from the outside world enters your brain stem (the lower, functional and emotional part of the brain) and measures it against familiar, previously stored experiences.
2. According to this matching process, your brain stem registers this new input as “danger” rather than “safe” based on an emotional memory or pre-conceived story from some part of your conditioning.
3. This activates your stress response, which shuts down access to the higher part of your brain (called the cortex) that applies logic and reason to new experiences. Thus enters your fight or flight mode.
4. Your brain sends signals to your body, through your nervous system, on how to appropriately respond. In this heightened state, your response might be magnified, overindulgent, or self-destructive. You engage in impulsive behavior that pacifies the cycle of your overly reactive stress response until you find your way back to your baseline.

But the thing is, your stress response system doesn’t give a damn about the difference between imminent danger and perceived threat- so how can you?

Here are 3 journal prompts to help you tell the difference between fear and anxiety next time you need to deploy some stress management mechanisms:

1. Write a list of everything you feel afraid of right now
2. On another page, separate it into two categories: FEAR and ANXIETY
3. Categorize your list from point #1 into:
   1. Fears (present dangers)
      1. I.e.- I am scared of spiders
   2. Anxiety (perceived threats)
      1. I.e.- I am scared of public speaking

The effects of this exercise will vary every time you do it, depending on what’s eating at your mind in any given moment. So make sure to bookmark and return to this post as often as needed to calm emotional tension and anxiety.

If you’ve had a chance to try it out, let me know in the comments below what came up for you.