How does anxiety disorder differ from adjustment disorder?

Length of time: Anxiety disorder is a lifelong condition. Adjustment disorder is a reaction to a stressful event, like a major trauma, a death in the family or a divorce, sometimes someone experiences a life-changing event and needs counseling or medication to recover from it. Post-traumatic stress disorder would be an example of this.

Situation: Although they can overlap, anxiety disorders are thought to arise mostly from the person's temperament, whereas adjustment disorders are, by definition, associated with some sort of outside condition that is "causing" the problem.