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Anxiety is a feeling of worry, nervousness, or fear about an event or situation. It is a normal reaction to stress. It helps you stay alert for a challenging situation at work, study harder for an exam, or remain focused on an important speech.
When the intensity, duration, and/or frequency of anxiety become distressful and chronic, such that it interferes with a person's functioning, it is often referred to as pathological anxiety. Anxiety disorders represent variant forms of this pathological anxiety. Therefore, the difference between normal anxiety and abnormal anxiety is this: anxiety is considered normal and adaptive when it serves to improve peoples' functioning or wellbeing. In contrast, abnormal anxiety is a chronic condition that impairs peoples' functioning and interferes with their well-being.