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Stress and anxiety have become uncomfortably common these days. Negative emotions, mental fatigue and lack of control over a situation have been a great source of stress for us as well as for people around us. We make it worse by thinking endlessly about our problems, instead of looking for solutions. As per studies, this mental condition more often than not spirals out of control and makes things worse.

Defining stress

In scientific terms, stress is your body’s way to deal with any kind of problem and threat. It can be about your job, family or relationship. Some people manage to deal with it nicely, while others just keep on carrying the burden within themselves.

Gender and stress

Women and men both manage stress differently. As per the American Psychological Association, women are more stressed as compared to men. Stress even leads to other physical problems like headache, upset stomach, exhaustion, irritability, and sadness in women. They are even more prone to depression and anxiety.

The age group

As per a study by the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Institute on Aging, women in their midlife are more stressed as compared to both men and women of other age groups.

Why women are more stressed?

A woman has the responsibility to manage both her family and her work. Trying to balance between the two can be at times overwhelming. One cannot deny that women are more sensitive than men. Women limbic area of brains, which control emotions and memories, are highly active. It makes it difficult to forget a bad incident and negative emotion. Women are not really good at letting go of a situation, their brain keeps on replaying the same event again and again, which makes them sad. Additionally, the pressure from the family to take care of the household work in a better way tends to diffuse their focus. And an unfocused brain is another major cause of stress.

Why men are less tensed?

Researchers at the Yale University School of Medicine found that while remembering an extremely stressful event, men are more involved in the action and planning. On the contrary, women mostly emotionally process that event.

In the second part of the study, it was found that when both men and women experience extreme anxiety, an area of the brain which was active in women was found to be inactive in men. Due to this factor, women continue to process their stress, which makes it worse.

Women cope up from a stressful situation by sharing their feeling and stressor with others. While men think of taking action on that particular situation, instead of expressing their distress verbally. This study also clears why women are good in providing emotional support to someone in stress and men are better at giving the advice to tackle it.

TNN/timesofindia.indiatimes.com