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2020_4_worrystress

A.T. Still University posted "The Difference Between Worry, Stress, and Anxiety," a Feb. 26, 2020, New York Times article by Emma Pattee, and I decided to read it because as a third-year student, I am feeling all three with trying to finish rotations, study for boards, and get to the finish line. I honestly thought that these were similar feelings, but how you respond to them are quite different.

Every physical therapist and physical therapist assistant student will experience worry, stress, and anxiety at some point during their school or clinical work and will express it in their own way. I get it, not everyone is a feelings person. I'm not.

You might be thinking, okay, why are you writing this then?

Well, I read this article back in March when everything became sort of a nightmare, I'd say. I finished my second clinical rotation. Boards were supposed to be in April, but who knows now. I was to graduate in three months, still am, but in a completely different way than I expected. I am hearing that some new virus has made an appearance in the world population. These feelings do occur.

Let me describe briefly the difference and how I made it through physical therapy school dealing with worry, stress, and anxiety.

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