Am I Anxious or Just Stressed? - Article
Like stress, anxiety can be useful in the right scenarios. It is the byproduct of what psychologist Stephen Porges calls “our biological imperative toward safety.” The discomfort it makes us feel was designed to alert us of something, precisely so that we listen up and protect ourselves. Luana Marques, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and president of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America told me, “Although anxiety is uncomfortable, it may signal that something’s not working.