What's the Difference Between Fear and Anxiety?

In response to a danger there is increased heart beat, there is shortness of breath, feeling of losing control etc. All this happens because of the fight or flight response that our body produces in response to the perceived threat. This response in believed to be necessary for our survival. If this response does not happen then our brain would not receive the necessary signal for fighting or fleeing.

Both fear and anxiety produce response to a danger, but according to experts there is a difference between them.

In the case of fear the response is produced based on a known threat. If you are walking down a lonely street at night and someone points a knife at you demanding money from you. When this happens there is an uncomfortable feeling and your body comes up with a response based on the fear of stabbing.

Considering the same case as above, if you walk down a deserted street there is always a chance that something could go wrong and as a result you feel uncomfortable and you may have butterflies in your stomach. Now this happens because of anxiety and is because of the fact that someone might come and attack you. So in the case of anxiety the response produced by your body is not due to a real threat, but the possibility of a threat / attack.

In the case of fear the response produced by our body is due to a real attack, whereas in the case of anxiety the response produced by our body is because of a possible attack. However fear and anxiety are interrelated. Fear can produce anxiety and similarly anxiety can produce fear.