How does chronic stress generally affect anxiety levels?

Chronic stress significantly impacts anxiety levels by generally exacerbating them. When a person is subjected to prolonged stress, their body remains in a state of heightened arousal due to the continuous release of stress hormones like cortisol. This persistent state of alertness can overwhelm the individual's coping mechanisms, leading to increased feelings of anxiety.

Over time, the effects of chronic stress can disrupt normal functioning, intensify worry, and create a feedback loop where worry about the stress itself leads to further anxiety. This relationship can manifest in both physical and psychological symptoms, such as restlessness, irritability, and difficulty concentrating, which are all common in anxiety disorders. Therefore, it is accurate to say that chronic stress tends to worsen anxiety rather than alleviate it, making the connection between the two particularly important to understand in the context of managing mental health.