It’s a common knowledge these days that due to overbearing pressures and hectic lifestyles, women seem to lead stressful lives juggling roles both personally and professionally. The main objective here is to highlight the common causes that lead to stress in women, how to cope with them and some solutions to avoid stress.
There are several factors which are likely to lead to the development of stress symptoms. Specific causes of stress differ in individuals since everyone responds to stress levels variably.
Women irrespective of whether working or single mothers show an increased rate to development of stress symptoms. Stress in women results in the onset of “stressful episodes”, where women experience several episodes of stress symptoms on a regular basis.
Science behind stress in women:
Considering the human body, stress in a female can be brought on due to various factors such as hormonal changes pre and post puberty, pregnancy and menopause. The hormone levels during these stages of life keep varying and hence cause stress.
Other factors which might induce stress in women include: emotional factors such as heartbreak, loss of family or its members, marriage problems etc. Economic factors such as unemployment, work pressures, salary, household expenses etc contribute greatly.
Stress related symptoms:
Stress affects almost every aspect of an individual and hence it becomes very essential to avoid all kinds of stress and pay close attention to its symptoms. Since stress couples physiological and emotional responses it therefore is possible that frustration translates into physical illness.
• Stress plays a key role in the menstrual cycle of women causing either absence or abnormal bleeding in menstruation.
• Stress in women is fatal as it can cause stroke, heart diseases and diabetes.
• Hormone imbalances caused due to prolonged periods of stress are seen to cause infertility and miscarriages during pregnancy.
• Loss of memory and concentration are other symptoms of stress.
• Stress can also trigger dermatological problems such as allergy, constipation, skin rashes etc.
• The common effects of stress in women are fatigue, lack of sleep, depression, headaches and anxiety.
How to handle stress?
Since stress can cause a varied number of problems in women, it becomes essential to understand how to cope with it and to avoid the formation of stressful patterns in one’s life.
• Follow a healthy lifestyle: stressful patterns are seen to arise if one does not stay healthy by eating the right food and lack of proper sleep also plays a major role in enhancing the stress patterns.
• Make time for fun: make sure you make time for recreation to have fun and relax, this may include activities like sports, holidaying or simply meditating.
• Talk therapy: talking to friends, family members or a therapist can help overcome stress and instil a sense of peace and healing through communication.
• Get up and going: sitting alone and feeling frustrated would serve no purpose, instead make yourself useful by helping others, volunteer in organizations, enjoy activities, make new friends etc.
• Maintain a checklist: sometimes too many tasks assigned simultaneously can be overwhelming. So prioritise your jobs and finish them one by one, and don’t forget to tick off the ones you have finished!
