Explore women’s stress statistics, the top sources of women’s rising stress levels, 10 signs of stress in women, and 3 tips to leverage Evie’s biometrics for maximum stress relief.

Today we wanted to have a heart-to-heart about a topic that affects each of us: Stress. 

Stress can feel unavoidable:

➤ Racing to beat deadlines…

➤ Worries over the rising cost of living…

➤ Dealing with conflict among loved ones…

➤ Anxious spiraling about global unrest and political changes that impact women’s health…

This makes the restless nights, difficulty focusing, irritability, and worse health that often accompany it feel just as inevitable.

And while we hate to break it to you, the science agrees — stress is a natural part of life. But stress’s negative impact on your mental and physical health doesn’t have to be.

Stress is a powerful player in our health and wellbeing, and only becomes a problem when chronic.

In this article, we’ll cover:

- Statistics on women’s stress
- Why women are feeling more stressed
- What is stress?
- 10 ways chronic stress affects women’s health
- 3 ways to use Evie’s biometric health data for managing stress

 

Statistics on Women’s Stress

According to the American Psychological Association’s 2023 Stress in America survey of 3,000+ adults — women report higher average stress levels than men. They were also more likely to rate their stress as more intense (an 8-10/10) compared to men.¹

In her years of research, Clinical Psychologist Rosalind S. Dorlen, PsyD, ABPP, has found that “men experience stress differently.” Additionally, men tend to dissociate from feelings of stress, while women seem inclined to internalize stress, contributing to higher rates of mental and emotional disorders.¹

Reasons women are feeling more stressed

According to the APA, there are many reasons women are feeling more stressed these days.

Including¹:

- Shifts in work structure
- Family responsibilities
- Societal expectations
- Increasing cost of living
- Political and global unrest
- Changes in the legislature that impact women’s health

 Specifically, the APA noted¹:

➤ 58% of women cited family responsibilities as a key stressor compared to 52% of men

➤ 50% of women felt “consumed” by worries about finances compared to 44% of men

➤ 49% of women were stressed by their relationships compared to 44% of men

Another major source of stress: Just 22% of those surveyed believed women’s rights were getting better in the U.S. Respondents shared similarly bleak perspectives about the rights of other groups, for instance, the LGBTQIA+ community, people with disabilities, and non-white populations.¹

Psychologist Taisha Caldwell-Harvey, PhD, also noted that a common area of stress her female patients have shared is “the overwhelming sense of being burdened by the responsibilities of home life while trying to advance… in [or maintain] their career.”¹

All of this to say — if you’ve been feeling overwhelmed recently, know that you’re not alone. 

What is Stress?

Stress itself isn’t the enemy. It’s part of your body’s survival system, honed over thousands of years of evolution.

Here’s how it’s supposed to work:

➤ Your brain picks up on an environmental cue that looks like a threat.

➤ It triggers a cascade of effects to help you survive, beginning with flooding your system with hormones like adrenaline and cortisol. 

➤ These hormones prompt your body to divert resources from non-critical systems (like your digestive and reproductive systems) in favor of “survival-critical” functions.

These functions include:

- Dilating your vision
- Tensing your muscles
- Increasing your heartbeat
- Increasing your respiration rate
- Increasing your blood pressure

➤ Once the stressor passes, these systems *usually* return to a healthy state of balance.

This is called your “fight or flight” response. (Trauma experts have adapted this phrase in recent years to include additional survival responses of fight, flight, freeze, or fawn.)

10 Ways Chronic Stress Affects Women’s Health

In short bursts, your stress response isn’t harmful, and can even build your resilience in a term researchers call eustress. It’s when your body gets stuck in fight or flight and you experience long-term stress that it can significantly impact your mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing.

Here are 10 symptoms of stress in women you ought to know about.

#1 Digestion

Activation of your stress system can slow down and interrupt digestion, leading to uncomfortable symptoms that include bloating, constipation, and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Over time, chronic stress can disrupt your gut flora, leading to more serious digestive issues.

#2 Chronic pain

Stress causes your muscles to tense to protect your body from injury and pain. But chronic tension can lead to pain, discomfort, and chronic pain conditions like migraines. Studies have shown that women are more likely to experience these stress-induced headaches than men and also experience higher rates of chronic pain.^{2, 3}

#3 Sleep

Stress often makes it difficult to fall and stay asleep, leading to insomnia. Poor sleep quality can further worsen stress, creating a toxic cycle that’s hard to break. Because of regular hormonal fluctuations, women already experience higher rates of sleep disturbances. But these nightly wake-ups often become more frequent with chronic stress. 

#4 Hormone shifts

Chronic stress can lead to a chronically imbalanced hormone system. For women, this can mean irregular menstrual cycles, worse PMS symptoms, and conditions like polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Stress can also affect your thyroid, impacting your overall metabolism and energy levels.

#5 Fertility issues

Stress hormones like cortisol interfere with your body’s natural reproductive processes, potentially leading to fertility issues. One study found that women who reported higher stress levels took 29% longer to conceive than women with lower stress levels.⁴

#6 Decreased immune system function

High stress levels often end up suppressing the immune system, which makes you more susceptible to infections and illness. Women often find their immune systems are particularly sensitive to chronic stress, which can lead to more frequent colds and other ailments.

#7 High blood pressure

The stress response involves constricting your blood vessels and increasing your heart rate, which causes a temporary spike in blood pressure. But when the stress system stays activated, it can prompt high blood pressure and an elevated risk of heart disease (the leading cause of death for women).⁵

#9 Mental wellbeing

Chronic stress can often sneakily contribute to anxiety, depression, and mood swings. Alongside shifts in hormones, sleep, and physiological function, chronic stress can influence our daily choices, leading us to isolate from social events and discontinue healthy habits, further worsening mental wellbeing.

#10 Performance at work

Stress can impair cognitive functions, leading to brain fog, disorganized thinking, decreased concentration, and memory issues. It can also impair decision-making and productivity, contributing to lower job satisfaction and impacting overall performance at work.

3 Signs of Stress in Your Biometric Health Data (And How to Use them to Relax!)

With all this information on the dangers of unchecked stress, you may be wondering, “What do I do now?” After all, it’s hard to find the line between a stressful day vs. long-term, unchecked chronic stress.

The first step to effectively cope with stress is to identify when it starts causing health problems. And a great way to gain those insights into your health is through biometric data.

Evie provides detailed insights into your daily biometrics to help you see the real-time impact of stress on your health.

Here are 3 biometrics to pay special attention to:

#1 Heart rate

A consistently elevated heart rate can signal that your body is in a chronic state of stress. Pay attention to your weekly trends in heart rate to spot whether some self-care TLC might be necessary.

#2 Sleep quality

Evie monitors your heart rate, respiratory rate, and movement throughout the night to give you detailed insights into your sleep quality. Increased movement and more frequent night-time wake-ups can be a sign of stress.

#3 Respiration

Changes in your breathing patterns, such as more shallow or rapid breathing, can indicate you’re experiencing stress. Evie monitors your blood-oxygen (SpO2) levels and can give you a sense of whether you may need to slow down and take deep breaths to help you relax.

Learn more about how Evie can give your health a major boost >>

Citations:

1. Medaris, A. (2023). Women say they’re stressed, misunderstood, and alone. Apa.org. https://www.apa.org/topics/stress/women-stress
2. ‌Moyer, M. W. (2023, December 5). Why Do Women Get More Headaches Than Men? The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/05/well/live/headaches-women-causes.html#:~:text=In%20addition%20to%20migraine%20headaches
3. ‌Casale, R., Atzeni, F., Bazzichi, L., Beretta, G., Costantini, E., Sacerdote, P., & Tassorelli, C. (2021). Pain in Women: A Perspective Review on a Relevant Clinical Issue that Deserves Prioritization. Pain and Therapy, 10(1), 287–314. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40122-021-00244-1
4. Stress impacts ability to get pregnant, study finds. (n.d.). ScienceDaily. Retrieved July 2, 2024, from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140324090406.htm#:~:text=Women%20who%20have%20trouble%20getting
5. CDC. (2024, May 20). About Women and Heart Disease. Heart Disease. https://www.cdc.gov/heart-disease/about/women-and-heart-disease.html#:~:text=Overview