For whom is stress more harmful - for men or women? How to increase stress resistance and protect the female body from negative consequences?

Cycle and stress

For whom is stress more harmful - for men or women? How to increase stress resistance and protect the female body from negative consequences?

What to believe?

Oddly enough, both of them - after all, stress and stress are different. Women are better than men to endure immediate, acute stress. Ladies are easier to express emotions. Something unpleasant happened - the woman burst into tears, and the tension eased. Plus, women are more sociable. They are more likely to talk about what happened to them. This also gives its trump cards.

But chronic stress inflicts a much greater blow on women than on the stronger sex.

Someone stepped on their feet in the subway, the boss made a remark, stood in a traffic jam, just physically tired ... All these are routine problems that haunt us every day. Each of them is small. If she was the only one, we would not have noticed her. But accumulating, such situations can greatly exhaust and undermine the reserve of stress resistance.

It all happens to men too, why do they suffer less from this?

In our society, a man is often a breadwinner. He concentrates on work. And women for the most part not only work, but also housekeeping, children. So they simply have more routine stressful events. Trouble sometimes occurs “on all fronts” at the same time.

The man as a whole is much easier to abstract. Something unpleasant has happened - he will accept it as it is and will act in the current conditions. A woman has a different psychology. She begins to scroll in her head what could be said or done, what else could have been done. Unfortunately, this is unproductive and only deepens the stress.

Women are initially more anxious and more difficult to make decisions. And under conditions of chronic stress, anxiety can increase significantly. And then she is additionally exhausting. It takes from us some of the resources that the body could use to recover from stress.

Finally, we must not forget about female physiology. In everyday speech, some external events are often called stress. However, from a medical point of view, this is not true. Stress is all that makes the body adapt. Including - changes within himself.

The female menstrual cycle is associated with regular fluctuations in hormone levels. For two weeks the body gets used to one of their content in the blood, and then everything changes, and so every month. This is additional stress that men do not have. Therefore, women's resistance to stress is lower than men's.

But there are simply "iron" women who, it seems, do not care about anything...

Sure. And there are stressed, unbalanced men. Resistance to stress is very individual. It depends on genetics, on the state of health, on the characteristics of the nervous system, on psychological attitudes.

In addition, it can change: in some periods we react more to stressful situations, in some less. Resistance to stress can be improved. But you can also reduce it - by your own actions. For example, start eating stress on sweet foods. This is very typical of women, and this is another reason for their vulnerability.

Let's imagine a typical stress response. A stress factor has appeared - and the hormones adrenaline and cortisol are released into the blood. This forces the body to become alert. Muscles tense. And for their enhanced nutrition, a lot of glucose quickly enters the blood from the depot. The problem is that a modern person often does not use it for its intended purpose. It was in ancient times that he could beat the enemy or run away from him. Now this is impossible, so the muscles of the arms and legs do not need so much nutrition. Energy is spent on contraction of the muscles of the heart, blood vessels, intestines, and bladder. Hence - rapid heartbeat, vascular spasms, headache, sharp urge to use the toilet. The age-old defense mechanisms are starting to work against us. And seizing stress with sweet, we only aggravate the situation, because the level of glucose rises even more.

High blood sugar levels have been shown to support inflammatory responses. This is the cause of early death of nerve cells, dementia, vascular complications, chronic pain. Of course, these are all long-term effects of stress. But if you are often nervous and often looking for comfort in a box of chocolates, they are very likely.

How to minimize the harm of chronic stress?

First of all, you need regular physical activity. Running, walking, dancing, cycling, swimming - whatever you want to enjoy. At least 30-40 minutes every day. Sports training is stress in miniature. During them, adrenaline, cortisol and glucose also enter the bloodstream. Moving, we "teach" the body to use them correctly. In the future, in a stressful situation, it will be easier for our body to do everything right.

By the way, physical activity is also an excellent first aid tool. Feel that you are worried - retire and do a few squats, swing arms and legs, jump. The voltage will drop.

Stretching exercises also help. For example, circular movements with the shoulders, slowly swinging the head from side to side, stretching the back of the legs, arms. Stress inevitably leads to muscle tension, and such exercises can relieve it. This includes feedback. The fewer problem points and clamps in the body, the easier it is to endure daily problems.

Diaphragmatic breathing gives a good effect. Exhale slowly, deeply with your belly. In times of stress, it helps to reduce the heartbeat, calm down. And with regular training, it generally normalizes the body's reactions. It is enough to breathe in this way twice a day for five minutes.

You are talking about physical training, but what about psychology?

Psychological work is certainly important. There are many ways to deal with everyday stress. For example, if something excited or hurt you - sit down and write down your emotions, feelings. Set aside your notebook for a week and then re-read it. Many of the "important" problems will seem insignificant to you, because some of them have already been resolved, some will fade into the background. This technique allows you to learn not to take everything to heart.

Laughter raises stress resistance well, even from a banal comedy viewing. A sense of humor generally gives tremendous trump cards. Routine and routine, so as not to take every small event seriously.

In general, any psychological techniques and methods are effective that help to relax, abstract, and speak out. Yet this is just the tip of the iceberg. Resistance to stress is highly dependent on the physical condition of the body. If its resources are depleted, it is extremely difficult to cope with stress.

In addition to physical activity, a healthy diet is important. Make sure you have enough magnesium, calcium, vitamin D, selenium, omega-3 fatty acids in your daily diet. Foods containing them form the basis of an anti-stress diet.

The most important component of stress resistance is healthy sleep. Unfortunately, many people donate to them in order to be in time. But lack of sleep significantly increases irritability and worsens mood. Moreover, it is in a dream that our brain "turns its gaze" into the body. He gives the command to "fix" minor breakdowns, including those that have arisen due to everyday stress.

For women, this problem is special, because they sleep worse than men even in a calm state of mind. And under conditions of chronic stress, they quickly develop insomnia. It must be eliminated, otherwise the risk of psychosomatic problems will increase significantly. Don't immediately run for sleeping pills. Start with good sleep hygiene. Try to go to bed and get up at the same time. Circadian rhythms are very important for the body. If they are met, he has more resources for a normal reaction to unforeseen stress factors.