some of you are confusing anxiety and fear
don't ask me to define either, but im sure some of you are confusing them
Right, but the framing of this conversation leads people to talk about their greatest sources of anxiety which become fears. This would be a pretty dull conversation about the small things that we all have anxiety about. Lib's expired food anxiety is a perfect example of this. I'm guessing most people wouldn't scarf down turkey from the fridge that has been in there for five months without a wayward thought. Crossing the street is something we all do but I'm sure most have some level of anxiety about it, same thing with driving a car, getting a haircut, staying in a high rise hotel, eating out, getting married, hiring a babysitter, etc etc etc.
In the most basic definition, fear is directly attributable to something that is happening whereas anxiety is what your mind is doing to you thinking about what could happen, be happening, etc...
It's like fear is your emotional and physical reactions when a spider is crawling on you. Anxiety is your emotional and physical reactions when thinking about spiders crawling on you.
My wife's family all have really debilitating anxiety. She takes medication to reduce hers, but I have had to learn the triggers of hers. Some days it is like a tightrope which is why I commented that people with anxiety give me anxiety. Constantly getting turned over wondering if what I'm doing is triggering her. The medication makes it much easier. I still rarely drive the vehicle if we are both in it though. It's just not worth it because she is white knuckle the entire time constantly trying to figure out ways that we will crash. Her father won't even ride in a vehicle if he isn't driving.
