Stress — Can't Think Straight

Do you think you experience more stress than the average women?

Or are you more stressed than the average man? Do you cope with stress well or become emotional and can’t think straight?  The Stressed Sex, a new book by Daniel and Jason Freeman is interesting, focusing on mental health differences between the genders. Here are some facts that they present:

• Women develop insomnia,depression and anxiety disorders twice as often as men.

• Men are more likely to develop alcohol and drug addictions.

• Women seek treatment more often than men; partly because men are more resistant to seeking help (asking for directions?) and because women are open to it.

• Women’s experience of stress seems to be related more to the environment (nurture) than the genes (nature).

• Women’s heightened stress results largely from the social roles demanded of them and high performance expected by women themselves.

• Negative self-talk, producing low self-esteem may result from the inability to meet women’s own and others’ expectations.

According to the two Freemans, “If we think of stress as a chisel hitting a rock, the blows women receive from the environment may sometimes be stronger (think childhood sexual abuse), more persistent (think social role burden), and differently angled (think relationships).

Here’s a link to another post about women and stress on intelligentwomenonly.com /improving-your-resistance-stress

What’s Your Experience with Stress?

I agree. What do you think?  What’s your experience? Please leave your comment. I’m interested. I’m doing better with meditation. What about you?