<p>Not quite the same, although there is some overlap.</p>
<p>What's colloquially known as an &quot;adrenaline rush&quot; (e.g. what you'd experience in a roller coaster or more generally in a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fight-or-flight_response" rel="nofollow noreferrer">fight-or-flight situation</a>) is the result of the body's fast reaction system to stress, sometimes called the sympathetic-adrenal-medullary (SAM) axis. SAM activation causes the adrenal medulla to release epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline);.</p>
<p>On the other hand, sustained/chronic stress (eventually) activates the slower stress-response axis, known as the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis. In humans, HPA activation releases cortisol from the zona fasciculata of the adrenal cortex. (The adrenal cortex is the outer layer of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrenal_gland" rel="nofollow noreferrer">adrenal gland</a>, while the adrenal medulla is the inner area of the gland.) One of the actions of cortisol is to contain the activation of the SAM axis. (<em>Textbook of
Anxiety Disorders</em>, 2nd ed., p. 571 citing the highly influential <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6368214/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">paper of Munck et al.</a>) Cortisol has its <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_feedback#Biology_and_chemistry" rel="nofollow noreferrer">own negative-feedback loop</a>.</p>
<p>So, in a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_attack#Signs_and_symptoms" rel="nofollow noreferrer">panic attack</a> you'd experience mostly SAM activation, or at least this will be the dominant effect. On the other hand, <a href="https://www.verywellmind.com/anxiety-attacks-versus-panic-attacks-2584396" rel="nofollow noreferrer">anxiety generally refers to a broader class of reactions to stress</a>, including long-term ones. E.g., [older] people with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) may experience elevated cortisol, and this is <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3424606/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">reduced by SSRI medication</a>. Other anxiety-related disorders such as PTSD have a much more complicated picture; cortisol levels <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180516172553/http://blogs.plos.org:80/mindthebrain/2016/07/18/cortisol-the-intergenerational-transmission-of-stress-and-ptsd-an-interview-with-dr-rachel-yehuda/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">are not terribly useful in distinguishing PTSD patients from controls</a>. Recent research suggests however that a dysfunctional cortisol feedback loop may be present in PTSD; <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4156294/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">administration of cortisol after a potentially traumatic event seems to reduce later symptoms</a>.</p>
<p>What I said above is a pretty simplified picture, in which I completely glossed over the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4999448/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">complex pathways of stress-mediation in the brain</a>, which actually make studying/treating anxiety disorders much less trivial.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2017-12-13T10:39:43.000Z
2022-06-06T17:23:27.050Z
2022-06-06T17:23:27.050Z
got trolled too much this week
<p>I am wondering from a physiological perspective what is anxiety. From my experience anxiety feels like muscle tension and lots of suppressed energy. For what I know the only thing that can make the body feel like that is adrenaline. So I am wondering if the two are the same or if anxiety is caused by different hormone. However what doesn't seem right about my hypothesis is anger increases adrenaline, but I don't think anger feel like anxiety for the general population. It would be helpful if someone could clarify me what causes the physiology of anxiety.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-13T05:05:27.850Z
May answer your question: https://cogsci.stackexchange.com/q/16083/7001
Arnon Weinberg
<physiology><anxiety>
Physiologically speaking is anxiety and adrenaline the same?
TheGeometer
# Physiologically speaking is anxiety and adrenaline the same?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-12-13)

I am wondering from a physiological perspective what is anxiety. From my experience anxiety feels like muscle tension and lots of suppressed energy. For what I know the only thing that can make the body feel like that is adrenaline. So I am wondering if the two are the same or if anxiety is caused by different hormone. However what doesn't seem right about my hypothesis is anger increases adrenaline, but I don't think anger feel like anxiety for the general population. It would be helpful if someone could clarify me what causes the physiology of anxiety.

**Tags:** physiology, anxiety

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: May answer your question: https://cogsci.stackexchange.com/q/16083/7001  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2017-12-13. Score: 3

Not quite the same, although there is some overlap.

What's colloquially known as an "adrenaline rush" (e.g. what you'd experience in a roller coaster or more generally in a [fight-or-flight situation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fight-or-flight_response)) is the result of the body's fast reaction system to stress, sometimes called the sympathetic-adrenal-medullary (SAM) axis. SAM activation causes the adrenal medulla to release epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline);.

On the other hand, sustained/chronic stress (eventually) activates the slower stress-response axis, known as the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis. In humans, HPA activation releases cortisol from the zona fasciculata of the adrenal cortex. (The adrenal cortex is the outer layer of the [adrenal gland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrenal_gland), while the adrenal medulla is the inner area of the gland.) One of the actions of cortisol is to contain the activation of the SAM axis. (*Textbook of
Anxiety Disorders*, 2nd ed., p. 571 citing the highly influential [paper of Munck et al.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6368214/)) Cortisol has its [own negative-feedback loop](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_feedback#Biology_and_chemistry).

So, in a [panic attack](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_attack#Signs_and_symptoms) you'd experience mostly SAM activation, or at least this will be the dominant effect. On the other hand, [anxiety generally refers to a broader class of reactions to stress](https://www.verywellmind.com/anxiety-attacks-versus-panic-attacks-2584396), including long-term ones. E.g., [older] people with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) may experience elevated cortisol, and this is [reduced by SSRI medication](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3424606/). Other anxiety-related disorders such as PTSD have a much more complicated picture; cortisol levels [are not terribly useful in distinguishing PTSD patients from controls](https://web.archive.org/web/20180516172553/http://blogs.plos.org:80/mindthebrain/2016/07/18/cortisol-the-intergenerational-transmission-of-stress-and-ptsd-an-interview-with-dr-rachel-yehuda/). Recent research suggests however that a dysfunctional cortisol feedback loop may be present in PTSD; [administration of cortisol after a potentially traumatic event seems to reduce later symptoms](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4156294/).

What I said above is a pretty simplified picture, in which I completely glossed over the [complex pathways of stress-mediation in the brain](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4999448/), which actually make studying/treating anxiety disorders much less trivial.


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