How Stress Affects Women's Health

Regardless of our status, age or race, we deal with different kinds of stress every single day. In fact, stress can be one of the root causes of different physical ailments that we experience. Each of us has different stress levels. What is stressful for one person might not be stressful for another. This alone makes it more difficult to manage or treat it.

Short term or acute stress is what we experience when we are beating a certain deadline, looking for the keys or a missing jewelry or any short term problems. This kind of stress comes and goes and is not permanent. Some symptoms include increased breathing, increased blood pressure, irritability, decreased memory, and muscle tension.

Meanwhile, long term or chronic stress stays with us for months or even years. This kind of stress is associated with our life stories. It can be because of a traumatic event during our childhood years or even events that affected our adult years. This kind of stress can lead to diseases.

According to Dr. Marcelle Pick, OB/GYN NP "In both acute and chronic stress, the power of the mind-body connection is clear. What we perceive as a stressful or dangerous situation — whether it truly is dangerous or not — has implications in the body. For example, if you’re standing in the street and you think you hear a truck coming, your body physically prepares you to move out of the way, even if the sound is something else entirely. Likewise, our past emotional experiences can color the way we see current situations. If your father had a volatile temper that scared you as a child, you will likely feel scared as an adult when a boss, a husband, or some other male authority figure gets angry, even when that anger isn't directed at you. So the stress we feel as children can repeat itself and have a lasting effect on how we think and experience life as adults."

Women undergo different stress compared to men. Women have to undergo the stress of giving birth, taking care of children and families, etc. Women nowadays try to do more and more by themselves which puts them in a stressful situation.

Here are some tips and strategies shared by Dr. Marcelle Pick to reduce stress:

• Start with quality nutrition
• Fill in nutritional gaps with a high-quality multivitamin/mineral complex.
• Explore relaxation practices

It is important that we try to find ways to reduce stress in our lives. Not only will it put us in a better mental and emotional state but it will also help us improve our physiological health.

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