How to Deal With Stress As a Woman Playing Multiple Roles

Category: Healthy Body

As more women continue to balance work with their domestic responsibilities, the idea of engaging in multiple roles simultaneously or “doing it all" has become somewhat of a norm.

Unfortunately, this often unavoidable arrangement has also led to women being subjected to significantly more pressure on a daily basis.

As the demands increase, women start to feel a sense of losing control and helplessness, making them prone to stress and burnout.

In this article, we'll discuss simple and practical ways for women to avoid or deal with the effects of physical and emotional stress.

What Is Stress?
Stress has been described as a heightened state of emotional or physical arousal occurring when demands from the environment, such as engaging in multiple roles, place pressure on an individual’s capacity to adapt.

Although small bouts of stress have been shown to be protective and advantageous to health, chronic or prolonged stress elicits adverse physiological responses such as increased blood pressure, compromised immune system, inflammation, and diabetes, which are all significant risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD).

Warning Signs of Stress
Stress can affect your physical and mental health without you even realizing it. That's why the first thing you need to do to manage it is to recognize some of its symptoms.

Ways to Deal With Stress
Managing stress means learning to cope with it, not avoiding it.

Taking a holistic approach to wellness—achieved through balancing and integrating diverse aspects of life—is a helpful way to manage stress.

Here are some tips:

1. Get some exercise
Exercise produces stress-relieving hormones. It also creates a chunk of time when you can be alone with your thoughts—or not think about much at all.

If you’re feeling stressed out, avoid the temptation to ditch your exercise routine in order to create more time to deal with your problems.

If you’re not currently exercising, get out a few times a week and take a brisk 20 minute walk. You just might find that you like the benefits so much that you’re inspired to expand into a regular routine of physical activity.

2. Eat plenty of vegetables and fruits
Stress eating, in the form of over-indulgence or trips to the vending machine or drive-through, may seem like a great idea when you’re feeling anxious. But the fact is that you’ll feel better in the long run if you reach for an apple instead of a bag of chips when you have the urge to munch.

3. Stay hydrated
Alcoholic beverages and soft drinks can also be tempting distractions when you’re feeling stressed out. However, water is a better choice. Your body will be better equipped to fight off the negative effects of stress when it’s properly nourished and hydrated.

4. Write it down
A common by-product of stress is the feeling of being overwhelmed. Making a list of everything you have going on or things that are worrying you, then prioritizing your list based on need and what you can realistically do about each item, can help you achieve a better sense of control.

5. Take a break
Unless you're dealing with an immediate life-or-death situation, the chances are that 20 minute breaks here and there aren’t going to impact your problems one way or another.

Activities like kicking back with a magazine, watching a favorite TV show, or stopping for a cup of coffee with a friend can help you take your mind off your problems for a little while, which means you’ll be able to tackle them with a fresh perspective whenever you’re ready.

6. Get organized
Nothing gives you a sense of control like preparation and organization. If you find that your stress is being aggravated even further because of piled-up paperwork, a messy kitchen, or a backlog of emails, set aside some time to deal with the organization issue or ask for help.

7. Talk to a friend
Sometimes, our problems become bigger than they need to be when they are living inside our head. When you’re feeling stressed, talking things over with a friend can help you find solutions and re-frame problems for better management.

As always, seek the advice of your physician before changing your diet, starting an exercise routine, or if you believe you need help in managing your level of stress.

Thanks for reading,
Ann