Adjustment vs Anxiety Disorder – Difference and Comparison

What is Adjustment Disorder?

A person with undiagnosed mental illness is more likely to be stressed than the average individual. It has a detrimental effect on that person’s life by causing abrupt shifts in emotional conduct. When a person’s reaction to a stressful event or scenario becomes extreme, it can negatively impact their physical health.

Adjustment disorder, on the other hand, is not considered a mental disease; rather, it is regarded as a significant reaction to a stressful experience. When a person has this illness, they might become susceptible and emotional. The signs of adjustment disorder are tough to investigate since they vary slightly.

When a tiny bit of stress looks like a massive mess, this condition affects how people think. However, symptoms such as frequent crying, difficulty sleeping, and lack of appetite, as well as difficulties performing routine tasks and suicidal thoughts, can be used to determine if the person is suffering from adjustment disorder.

People who suffer from this condition cannot enjoy their life and get depressed and worried very quickly. If a person detects such a behavioral shift in another person or oneself, he should seek help as quickly as possible from friends and family, therapists, and psychologists.

What is Anxiety Disorder?

Anxiety is a difficult phase brought on by a lack of confidence or uncertainties. It causes a person to have concerns about particular situations and is most linked to overthinking and a common brain response to stressful circumstances. It is a brain mechanism that warns the person of impending danger.

Anxiety Disorder occurs when a person’s anxiety becomes overwhelming and out of control. Increased heartbeat, exhaustion, fast breathing, sweating, and shaking are common symptoms in people with anxiety disorders. Panic disorder, phobias, agoraphobia, behavioral issues, and other types of anxiety can all be classified as anxiety.

This disease can cause a person to be anxious and fearful of particular situations. When it becomes more serious, a person may experience problems such as trouble breathing, sleeping, keeping still, concentrating, and so on. A person suffering from anxiety disorder may find it difficult to relax and may even become sick.

His hands and torso tremble, and his mouth becomes parched. Experts believe that heredity, substance usage, the environment, and specific medications are the main causes of anxiety disorder.

Difference Between Adjustment Disorder and Anxiety Disorder

  1. When a person has an adjustment disorder, he may disguise his symptoms by regulating his activities. Anxiety disorder, on either hand, is difficult to conceal because it manifests more bodily symptoms.
  2. Panic attacks are not always associated with adjustment disorder. Anxiety disorder, on either hand, is more likely to result in a panic attack.
  3. While an adjustment disorder may appear physically healthy, a person with an anxiety condition might become physically unwell and weak.
  4. An unexpected shift in one’s regular lifestyle, such as death or birth, can cause adjustment disorder. Anxiety problems were caused by sadness and can be passed down down the generations.
  5. Because adjustment disorder is more irregular and related with particular situations, it may be seen in action from time to time. In contrast, anxiety disorder can remain longer and be more common.

Comparison Between Adjustment Disorder and Anxiety Disorder

Parameters Of ComparisonAdjustment DisorderAnxiety Disorder
MeaningAn adjustment disorder is the conduct of a person who overreacts and overstresses.Anxiety Disorder is defined as a person’s conduct in which he becomes apprehensive and disturbed over minor issues.
DurationAdjustment disorder is defined as a brief period of stressful thoughts or despair that strikes without warning.Anxiety Disorder is not a disease, but rather a habit that little events can trigger.
CauseAdjustment disorder can arise due to demanding lives and traumatic experiences in one’s life.An individual can develop an anxiety disorder as a consequence of his or her family history, mental illness, depression, or a setting that mimics it
Panic attackWhen a person has adjustment disorder, he may be stressed, but he never has panic episodes.When someone suffers from an anxiety problem, panic attacks are fairly prevalent.
SymptomsSymptoms such as melancholy, negative thoughts, loss of food, and sleep deprivation can all be signs of adjustment disorder.Excessive sweating, heavy breathing, fast heartbeats, nausea, fatigue, and other symptoms are common in people with anxiety disorders.

References

  1. https://link.springer.com/article/10.2165/11311000-000000000-00000
  2. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1995-34553-001