As any medical expert can say, the thoughts and emotions are alike whether the anxiety or panic attacks are spontaneous or phobic. Studies have discovered that the type of phobia also makes little difference to the feelings that are experienced: People with social anxiety disorder called agoraphobia and animal phobia or zoophobia all report the same feelings when being face to face with the thing the fear most.
Anticipatory anxiety and panic and can usually be set apart individually, and most people grow in their ability to do so as their experience with anxiety or panic is heightened. There is a subjective difference where patients often describe the difference between the two anxieties. Other patients report little, if any, difference in the subjective experience or signs of panic and anticipatory anxiety.
As far as spontaneous anxiety is concerned, when individuals feel panicky or anxious no matter of where they are, that is called spontaneous anxiety (or spontaneous panic if it is very intense). Anxiety which occurs only in particular situations is called situational or phobic anxiety (or phobic panic if it is severe). And if our anxiety is triggered even by merely thinking of particular situations, that is a variety of phobic anxiety (or phobic panic) which is called anticipatory anxiety (or anticipatory panic).
The time frame or length of time when people experience anxiety or phobia also differs. It may come on gradually over minutes or hours, or strike like lightning out of the blue. And it may last for only a few seconds or for hours or even days, although severe panic does not usually last longer than half an hour or so.
The degree of severity, however, can pull out more stops, and this can be differentiates on the type of anxiety or panic. In experiencing mild tension we might have no more than an unpleasant feeling in the pit of our stomach. The extreme anxiety we call panic brings out a greater orchestration of feelings—we are more likely then to feel rapid heartbeat, sweating, and trembling and to think that we are going mad or losing control.
Worry associated in anxiety has several degrees as far as severity or intensity is concerned. It can be a mere qualm, rise to marked trembling, or become complete panic. Panic is extremely intense anxiety attack.
In conclusion, it is just not that important to make a big fuss about distinguishing between fear and anxiety. It is a subjective feeling where people demand similar needs.