Female Stress And Its Consequences
Stress affects physical and emotional health worse than people expect. The female body is especially sensitive to stress. Although the sex hormones and neurochemical processes of women to some extent protect against stress, women are more susceptible to its physical and emotional effects.
Under stress, the body begins to produce adrenaline, which stimulates brain activity. Mild and short-term stress can have a positive effect on mental performance. As a result, a woman begins to think faster and look for ways to solve problems. Too strong feelings, lasting a long time, can harm women’s health.
Long-term stress may cause a lot of health issues, including oncology, menstrual cycle changes, alcohol or drug addictions. It’s better to understand the nature of stress and its prevention than to deal with unpleasant consequences and google “womens rehabs near me”. It’s much faster and less difficult to manage stress than addiction.
Breasts and oncology
First of all, it has been proven that in 62% of cases, breast cancer is caused by a state of chronic stress. Everything from the cortex to every cell in the body reacts to stress. It is one of the main causes of many cancers, in the first place is the mammary gland.
We are not talking about the state when a person was scared and then quickly calmed down, but when the anxiety developed. Sometimes it seems to us that the problems and experiences are minor, but together they give a state of chronic sluggish stress.
The mammary gland is very sensitive to hormones, especially prolactin. It is released when a woman is breastfeeding or having an orgasm, but also during chronic stress. Increased production of prolactin cannot but affect the condition of the mammary gland. At first, the changes can be benign, and then stress, improper diet, sleep, the contraceptive methods can lead to the development of oncology.
Stress influences the menstrual cycle
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the menstrual cycle in millions of women — this is the conclusion of the newest American research.
Experts from Northwestern University conducted a survey in which they asked women to tell if they had had an irregular menstrual cycle since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. 54% of the answers were positive.
Half of the women who reported cycle problems experienced longer periods than usual. A third reported that menstruation was more profuse. Half of the participants also stated that their PMS symptoms had changed.
Experts asked women to rate their stress levels before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. On average, all study participants admitted that they experienced more stress during the year.
The authors of the work concluded that there is indeed a connection between stress due to the pandemic and changes in the menstrual cycle. Professor Nicole Voitovich explained that the negative effects of stress on human health and well-being have long been confirmed. She also added that excessive stress can lead not only to irregularities in the menstrual cycle, but also to reproductive health problems. Previous research also confirms that many women are experiencing stress today.
According to the expert, problems with menstruation are also observed in those girls who have had a coronavirus infection or were vaccinated. Moreover, the consequences may be more common – just not everyone reports such problems to the doctor.
The immune system
Each woman was faced with a situation when she got nervous and got candidiasis, cystitis, or exacerbation of chronic diseases. Due to stress, the immune system stops working and responding adequately, the balance in the body is disturbed. Very often stress can cause exacerbation of chronic diseases or become provocateurs of new ones.
Stress and addiction
The Psychology of Addictive Behaviors magazine published a study in which experts reported that women during stressful situations can consume more alcohol than men. It is worth noting that the study took place in a simulated bar, where a group of volunteers gathered, all the experimental subjects at the time of the study experienced stressful moments in life, this related to work, personal relationships, financial problems, loneliness, worries about loved ones. In the course of the study, scientists recorded the amount of excessive alcohol consumption in women than in men.
Experts emphasize that women have a higher risk of concomitant diseases associated with alcohol abuse than men, even taking into account the fact that men can drink alcohol even without having a stressful situation, but in the form of leisure and relaxation. That is why women’s drug rehabilitation and alcohol addiction recovery need more effort and time.
The risk of developing a drug addiction under the influence of stress also increases, as the women’s rehab specialists say.
How meditation and pets can help manage stress
Stress management measures are individual: if something helps one person, it is not a fact that it will help another. Medication is used only when natural stress management methods are unhelpful.
French physician David Servan-Schreiber has written a book on dealing with stress. He described the methods available to help calm anxiety and bring feelings in order. But there is no universal remedy for dealing with stress: each person has his own. For example, one can benefit from evening meditation after a hard day at work, another is helped by one-hour walks in the park near their home, and the third is by playing with a beloved pet: the need to love someone and take care of him causes positive emotions, and they are an important helper in the fight against stress.
If natural remedies fail, your doctor will prescribe medications, such as sedatives. They help deal with stress, but you need to be careful: medications also have side effects. They calm the body, but they also affect receptor sensitivity. The medications are also used in rehab centers for women. After discontinuation of therapy, the sensitivity of the receptors decreases, which can cause a deterioration in the human condition.
For example, this is how antidepressants work, blocking the reuptake of serotonin: at the beginning of therapy, they help the patient, but then the natural release of serotonin decreases – the body requires a new dose of drugs. The same is with alcohol and cigarettes in female rehab centers: the sensitivity of the dopamine system decreases sharply, a person’s well-being worsens, and one can return to the previous state only after a smoked cigarette or an additional glass of wine. Therefore, taking medications should only be done under the strict supervision of a doctor.
