When will I know that my anxiety is real and not just some stress?

Anxiety is not always a disorder or a panic attack. Anxiety can and will happen to everyone. It's caused by a buildup of stress in general, or a very stressful event that happens in your life, and is not always a medical issue. Unfortunately, there is no line between a lot of stress and anxiety, as they are almost like a gradient that you just slip into. If you want to find out if you are having anxiety about a specific thing, or have an anxiety disorder, or need help with anxiety issues, check out our Anxiety Self Help Guide: https://www.7cups.com/anxiety-help/

when it interferes with work or school considerably. When you feel disconnected from people and the world around you.

Anxiety manifests in more visceral ways - your cheeks may flush, you may start sweating, and you may feel your heart palpitating very quickly. Anxiety is overwhelming stress that severely limits your ability to carry out tasks effectively.

Its hard to decipher on your own at times, and both can affect your life on the same level at times. If its something that is interfering with your everyday life, perhaps you could try to seek counseling or therapy to help you sort out your thoughts.

It starts to effect your daily life, you can't think straight. Work gets hard, you can't sleep etc..

If your anxiety takes over your life and stops you from functioning and achieving your goals then it is real and needs to be dealt with