Feb 25, 2007 12:11
17 yrs ago
3 viewers *
English term
Anxious or worried - what is a difference?
English
Medical
Psychology
Have you been feeling especially anxious, nervous or on edge in the past week?
During the last week did you feel especially worried, nervous or like sitting on needles?
Anxious or worried - what is a difference in this context?
Thanks everybody in advance!
During the last week did you feel especially worried, nervous or like sitting on needles?
Anxious or worried - what is a difference in this context?
Thanks everybody in advance!
Responses
| 3 +4 | general anxiety / specific worry |
Alfredo Tutino
|
| 4 +1 | general/specific |
Ioanna Karamanou
|
| 3 | little difference - maybe past / future |
Craig Meulen
|
| 2 +1 | no difference |
Malik Beytek (X)
|
| 3 | (more info) |
MMUlr
|
Responses
+4
1 hr
Alfredo Tutino
No MT, No TMs: I am a Translator!
Native in: Italian 
Works in: English to Italian, French to Italian, Italian
Related KudoZ points
:
4
Selected
general anxiety / specific worry
I'm not sure of the relevance of the difference to your context, but I'd rather use "anxious" to refer to a general state of uneasiness and "worried" for a person having a particular thing weighting on her/his mind. In other words, IMHO, "anxiety" is more like a state of general, objectless uneasiness, "worry" a state of focused uncertainty.
You may also notice that "anxiety" is a learned word of Latin origin (verb "angere" - meaning "choke"). From Concise Oxford Dict.:
anxiety, n. state of being anxious, concern about the future, earnest desire (for a thing, to do). (Psych.) morbid state of escessive uneasiness.
The verb "worry", OTOH, comes from the Old English "wyrgan" (="kill"), from German roots; in COD, its first meaning (as a transitive verb) is: 1. (Of dog ) bite or seize (rat, sheep, dog), esp. at throat repeatedly; attack repeatedly; 2. tease, harass, importune, be continuously or intermittently troublesome to, allow no rest or peace of mind to (to oneself: take unnecessary trouble)"; ecc.
So I'd also say that a "worry" may be a much more concrete and material thing than anxiety (and you may notice that its much more natural to speak of "a worry" than of "an anxiety"...)
Having said that, I also think that in this case Malik idea - the doctor trying to match different patients' vocabulary - might well be right.
You may also notice that "anxiety" is a learned word of Latin origin (verb "angere" - meaning "choke"). From Concise Oxford Dict.:
anxiety, n. state of being anxious, concern about the future, earnest desire (for a thing, to do). (Psych.) morbid state of escessive uneasiness.
The verb "worry", OTOH, comes from the Old English "wyrgan" (="kill"), from German roots; in COD, its first meaning (as a transitive verb) is: 1. (Of dog ) bite or seize (rat, sheep, dog), esp. at throat repeatedly; attack repeatedly; 2. tease, harass, importune, be continuously or intermittently troublesome to, allow no rest or peace of mind to (to oneself: take unnecessary trouble)"; ecc.
So I'd also say that a "worry" may be a much more concrete and material thing than anxiety (and you may notice that its much more natural to speak of "a worry" than of "an anxiety"...)
Having said that, I also think that in this case Malik idea - the doctor trying to match different patients' vocabulary - might well be right.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Ioanna Karamanou
54 mins
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thank you
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| agree |
Alexander Demyanov
1 hr
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thank you
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| agree |
airmailrpl
: -
3 hrs
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thank you
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| agree |
Cristina Santos
8 hrs
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks everybody!"
6 mins
Craig Meulen
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Native in English
&
English
Works in field
United Kingdom
Related KudoZ points
:
4
little difference - maybe past / future
In this context (do these questions really appear one after the other in your source document?), I would say there is very little difference.
In some cases, I would use anxious if I am concerned about something in the future (like nervous - before an exam), and worried for things that have already happened, but this is not a fixed difference - just a tendency.
In some cases, I would use anxious if I am concerned about something in the future (like nervous - before an exam), and worried for things that have already happened, but this is not a fixed difference - just a tendency.
+1
42 mins
no difference
It seems to me that the good doctor is asking the same thing in different words to make sure she or he would not be missing patient's vocabulary, unknown to the doctor, looking for any sign of, perhaps, "anxiety", which is a psychiatric disorder.
Example sentence:
wor·ried: .... having or characterized by worry; concerned; anxious
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Michael Barnett
: Exactly. As a physician, I can assure you, the examiner is not concerned about subtle differences between the meanings of "anxiety" and "worry". He is tossing out a number of synonyms, hoping the patient will understand what he is asking.//Thanks anyways
2 hrs
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Hi, doc. Thanks for your response. It makes me realize the difference between your response and mine: Yours is better qualified than mine on two counts, i.e.,language and field. Please go ahead and provide your answer, and then I'll delete this answer.
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2 hrs
(more info)
anxious / anxiety is a rather well-defined term in pychiatry, for ref. please see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anxiety
Being worried is closely related to anxiety, more or less a definite characteristic of anxiety, see: http://www.uihealthcare.com/topics/medicaldepartments/psychi...
HTH :-)
Being worried is closely related to anxiety, more or less a definite characteristic of anxiety, see: http://www.uihealthcare.com/topics/medicaldepartments/psychi...
HTH :-)
+1
2 hrs
Ioanna Karamanou
United States
United States
Native in English
&
English
United States
Native in: English , Greek
Works in: Greek to English, English to Greek, English, and 5 more.
general/specific
I am worried: I am thinking about all sorts of specific things- did I turn this off? will I make it on time? will there be traffic? will the kids remember to wash their hands before lunch? will my boss be angry if I am late? and on and on
I am anxious: I am nervous, feel uneasy, perhaps also have physical symptoms of anxiety, increased heart rate, upset stomach, etc. without consciously thinking of one or more specific things.
I am anxious: I am nervous, feel uneasy, perhaps also have physical symptoms of anxiety, increased heart rate, upset stomach, etc. without consciously thinking of one or more specific things.
Discussion