What is stress? Well, it is a subjective word as a situation could be stressful to your neighbor but not to you. When a person is undergoing some pressure that outstrips his ability to cope with it, it is called stress.
So, how is it different for men and women, while we all live in the same world? The answer is quite simple; the society we live in does not treat men and women alike. While women are known for being talking and sharing their thoughts, men are seen as a gender that is stronger emotionally. This differentiation leads to men being pressurized not to share their challenges regularly with others. While this practice helps women release some of the steam, men keep things bottled up hence the pressure builds up. If it goes beyond their tolerance level, then it causes stress, anxiety, and depression.
The reasons of stress can vary from person to person and from time to time. Here are a few ways stress affects men’s health.
1. Stress Hits Men Worse than Women:
Well, both men and women are stressed equally, but the truth is that men take it harder than women. The reason behind this is quite simple, the society teaches men to be rock solid and strong. Any man that showcase their distress or emotions publicly is called weak. This discourages men to share their feelings and bottling up all the thoughts can affect them harder. While women are known to speak out their hearts hence most of them can cope with the situation as they talk and share their emotions with others.
2. Stress Leads to Unhealthy Eating Choices:
As most men eat up their feelings when stressed hence it also affects their lifestyle choices. Just to vent out, they may get used to habits like excessive drinking or doing drugs. Men also tend to either lose their appetite completely or overeat under stress, both damaging their health.
3. Stress Leads to Belly Fat:
Along with poor diet choices, stress also causes an increase in the stress hormones known as cortisol, which further causes an increase in body fat. Stress can block the absorption of protein by muscle tissues, hence causing a loss in muscle mass. As muscle mass decreases, the fat burning capacity of the body decreases because of the reduction in metabolism resulting in an increase in weight and belly fat.
4. Stress is the Main Culprit that Causes Type-2 Diabetes:
We know that type-2 diabetes is a lifestyle condition that happens because of terrible lifestyle choices. One of the prime reasons for its occurrence is obesity but on top of it if you are stressed then it can cause a rise in insulin and suppress certain hormones which can further increase your risk factor for type-2 diabetes.
5. Stress is Bad for Your Heart:
People who are obese and have a condition such as diabetes are already under high risk of developing heart conditions. Furthermore, if you are stressed then it can increase the risk of coronary heart disease. Stress can cause fluctuating blood pressure and create inflammation of blood vessels which may lead to small cholesterol particles sticking to the vessels causing heart blockage.
6. Stress can Cause a High Level of Anxiety:
Stress can force people towards depressed or cause anxiety in them which can push them towards extreme steps like harming themselves. As per experts, buy kratom as it has helped many people deal with their anxiety. It is dangerous if left untreated, hence keep an eye on such people so that you do not miss any symptoms that indicate they are stressed.
Stress can become depression in no time if not treated. Be vigilant and help your friends and family to get through this phase by supporting them and encouraging them to take medical help timely.