Is there a difference between anxiety & panic attacks?

@lovelyMacy I have also read mixed things about this, however for me anxiety attack or panic attack is just a label. Sometimes labels help us deal with what is going off, however for me I prefer to look at the symptoms what is happening, and deal with those.

Anxiety attacks have a trigger and panic attacks don't have a trigger. Other than that they are just about the same. Panic attacks can happen at any time because they are not triggered by something specific though.

In my experience - an anxiety attack has all of the emotions of a panic attack but it isn't expressed in the same way. I think about it like boiling a pot of pasta or something when it all starts to bubble a lot and if the lid isn't held on firmly it bubbles over - that would be a panic attack but if you have the lid on firmly the bubbling can't escape but it is still in there. That analogy seems to sum it up for me personally or at least how i feel about it. i guess it is different for everyone though.