What Helps Women Deal With Stress Better Than Men?
Why do men and women handle stress differently?
When stress strikes cortisol and epinephrine hormones elevate blood sugar and blood pressure for both men and women. The brain also releases oxytocin which counters the other two hormones, producing relaxation. Oxytocin may influence our ability to bond with others.
Women, however, produce more oxytocin than men which leads them to form nurturing relationships and to talk about their feelings more when they encounter stress. They “tend and befriend.”
The higher your oxytocin, the higher your happiness and well-being, at least for women says Paul Zak, PhD, a researcher.
Researcher Shelly Taylor, Ph.D. finds females under stress nurture themselves and their young – tend – and form bonds with other women – befriend.
Women, as a whole, tend to focus on looking after other people’s needs which can create more disstress for them as a nonworking behavior. This, however, orients them to the value of relationships and female bonding.
Men, on the other hand, with smaller amounts of oxytocin, lean toward fight or flight response when it comes to stress. They either bottle the stress up or they fight back because they concentrate on competition and outer performance to set the pace of their lives. To win regardless of the cost to their relationships can create incredible tension and physical health issues for men.
In my experience, men steer clear of expressing their feelings or disstress with other men. Perhaps we fear feeling vulnerable and possibly open to attack. So to relieve tension we seek escape activities such as golf or football games where we can release pressure while still enjoying the company of other men.
In conclusion, loss of relationships can be the greatest stressor for women while fear of lack of performance haunts men. In addition, with less oxytocin and a different paradigm of relating leaves men with less capability for stress reduction than women.
As a man or woman what do you do to handle chronic distress?
6 Top Stress Management Tips https://www.emotionalhealthtips.com/top-stress-management-tips/
6 More Top Stress Management Tips https://www.emotionalhealthtips.com/stress-management-tips-2/
https://www.emotionalhealthtips.com/top-5-stress-relievers-for-men/
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael David Lawrience is the author of Emotional Health: The Secret from Drama, Trauma, and Pain. His book provides ways for improving emotional health, easing pain and tension, healing physical and emotional abuse, and spiritual awakening. See book on Amazon
Michael as a previous Residential and Self-Esteem Coach and Mentor has over 15 years’ experience teaching teen’s self-awareness, self-esteem, and self-reliance. Self Esteem- A Teen’s Guide for Girls This book is valuable for women also. See book on Amazon
Michael offers Bowen Therapy in person in Sedona, Arizona for easing physical and emotional pain. https://www.emotionalhealthtips.com/bowen-therapy-sedona/
Michael also conducts personalized hiking tours in Sedona for emotional and spiritual breakthroughs.
Very true. Men internalized their stress, where woman talk it out and get it off their shoulders. Also men are not apt to talk about personal matters with friends, where woman are. Guys are more likely to go work it off at the gym. This gives some temporary relief but doesn’t get to the crux of the problem. But as a spouse or significant other, if you carefully peel back those layers of stoic restraint, you can get him to open up and when he does, watch out. There’s usually a lot that he has been storing up inside.
As a woman I find writing a great release for chronic stress.