Fear and anxiety are two examples of negative emotions that we feel when we are confronted with certain situations. Similar symptoms such as shortness of breath, irregular or increased heart rate, which are produced when both are experienced, are the reason why both are often considered to be the same. When you feel threatened by something or a particular situation, the first thing that is usually generated is fear.
In other words, fear is basically our emotional response to fearful situations. Most of the things we fear are products of our experiences in relation to a certain traumatic event experienced in the past. Anxiety, on the other hand, refers to an unpleasant state of mental nervousness or uneasiness about some uncertain situations or events.
At times, anxiety comes as a symptom for different kinds of health conditions in the body, and it can, in turn, lead to other conditions like insomnia. One major difference between fear and anxiety is that events that lead to fear can easily be determined, whereas one might not be able to explain the root cause of his or her anxiety.