Anxiety vs Panic: One and the Same, or Completely Different?
My Personal Perspective
Many years ago, I experienced panic attacks—and for a long time, I thought of them as the same thing as anxiety, just at different levels of intensity.
For me, it was pretty straightforward:
If I rated the sensations I was feeling on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the most distressing), I considered anything between 1 and 7 as anxiety. When things tipped into 8, 9, or 10, I saw it as a panic attack.
In other words, my experience of anxiety and panic felt like a continuum—the same symptoms, just more intense when it reached panic.
But that was based on my own experience. For others, whose symptoms may differ significantly between anxiety and panic, the two can feel like completely separate experiences.
The Key Difference: Intensity & Duration
The most accurate way to define the difference is this:
Anxiety and panic are best distinguished by the intensity of the symptoms and the length of time they last.
- Anxiety is usually milder in intensity, but it can linger for a long time—hours, days, even weeks.
- Panic attacks are short-lived but incredibly intense. They typically last between 10 and 45 minutes, and they can leave you completely exhausted afterward.
This time difference is no coincidence—it’s largely due to energy. The body simply can’t sustain panic-mode for long periods, whereas anxiety can simmer beneath the surface almost indefinitely.
What Is a Panic Attack?
A panic attack is your body’s highest threat-level alarm, triggered when it (mistakenly) believes something is seriously wrong. If there were actual danger—like being chased by a bear—your mind would be focused on the threat itself. But when no real threat is present, your brain zeroes in on what’s happening in your body.
And you don’t like it.
It feels terrifying.
That’s exactly the point.
Your body is demanding attention.
Common Panic Attack Symptoms:
- Heart palpitations
- Excessive sweating
- Trembling or shaking
- Shortness of breath
- Chest pain
- Nausea
- Dizziness or light-headedness
- Feeling of losing control or “going crazy”
- Fear of dying
- Chills or hot flushes
If these symptoms sound familiar, and you’ve experienced them during episodes of anxiety, it’s easy to see why many people think anxiety and panic are the same thing.
But What If Your Anxiety Feels Totally Different?
Here’s where the conversation gets interesting.
Let’s say your experience of anxiety is mostly:
- Constant worrying
- Irritability
- Sleep disturbances
- Restlessness
- Difficulty concentrating
In that case, a panic attack—with its sudden, overwhelming physical sensations—might feel like a completely different beast. It doesn’t feel like anxiety at all. And from your perspective, they are two distinct experiences.
So Which Is It?
That’s the million-dollar question. Are anxiety and panic the same thing, or are they different?
Well, it depends.
For me, they felt the same—just varying in intensity.
For someone else, they might feel completely different.
And both perspectives are valid.
My Conclusion
It’s whatever it feels like to you.
- If anxiety and panic feel like two points on the same scale to you—that’s okay.
- If they feel like totally separate experiences—that’s also okay.
Your body and mind will give you your truth, and that’s the only truth that matters.
The important thing is to stop trying to argue the difference with others. Their experience may be completely different from yours—and that doesn’t make them wrong.
Learn more about panic attacks here
Understand how BWRT can promote Rapid Positive Change here
Tim Grover - Bedfordshire Therapies 