What are the differences between fear, anxiety, and anxiety disorders?

Anxiety, as defined by the APA, combines uneasiness or dread about future events, physical symptoms of tension, and the anticipation of impending danger.^[1] In contrast, fear is an emotional and physiological response to an immediate threat.^[2] Anxiety and fear are both normal emotions that everyone experiences from time to time. In anxiety disorders, however, anxiety and fear are persistent — present for longer than 6 months — and either are excessive or are present long after they’re developmentally appropriate. Anxiety disorders can often interfere with daily activities, either directly (as with selective mutism, in which people cannot talk in some situations) or because people with anxiety disorders may rearrange their lives to avoid situations that trigger their symptoms (as with agoraphobia, in which certain spaces or situations trigger anxiety).