psychology
3 stress factors that eat away at your health unnoticed – and how to get rid of them
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It’s not just the obvious that causes stress – even the little things in everyday life. How to identify them and leave them behind.
Death, divorce, unemployment – events like these are known to trigger stress. But what about the small, everyday stress factors that pierce the psyche like tiny needles? While these may not feel all that destructive (maybe they don’t feel at all), studies have shown that they can be mentally and physically ill. Oprah Daily, the website of the US talk show queen Oprah Winfrey, has identified hidden stressors in women’s everyday lives and how to manage them.
Stress factor 1: Social isolation
Some of us still work remotely or live alone when we really don’t want to. But loneliness not only feels bad, it can even shorten life noticeably. Research has long linked social isolation to an increased risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, anxiety, depression, Alzheimer’s and even death. “Chronic loneliness has been shown to be just as detrimental to our long-term health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day,” New York psychotherapist Guy Winch is quoted as saying by the Oprah Daily.
The solution: scheduled contacts
In the regions of the world where people live the longest (such as Japan or Sardinia), faith plays an important role in bringing people together. If you don’t have one, you can also join a weekly meditation course, a choir or a hiking group, depending on your interests, or volunteer. It is important to come into contact with people who think like you do and who invest the necessary time in order to establish meaningful relationships.
Stressor #2: Scroll to get down
Love the baby and cat clips on Instagram or Tiktok? Sounds like a harmless pastime, but the edited images of perfect bodies, faces, vacations, and houses you scroll through also gnaw at your well-being without you noticing. Especially in (younger) women, social media has been associated with an increased incidence of anxiety, depression, sleep disorders and body image issues.
The solution: mobile phone time-out
According to a study cited by the Oprah Daily, even a week-long internet hiatus can reduce depression and anxiety. Does a week seem like an eternity? Then you can also try shorter fasting cures, for example by limiting your cell phone time a little every day. Just imagine how much more productive and relaxed you would be if you spent the first hour of the day meditating, exercising or writing a gratitude journal rather than on the internet.
Stress factor 3: Emotional work
You make dinner and your husband takes care of the shopping and washing up. So far so good. But what if your child bursts into tears because they didn’t get a role in the school play? Mom is usually there to comfort you. Both at home and at work—where women tend to work in emotionally demanding industries like healthcare—women often face a mountain of exhausting caring. As noted journalist Rose Hackman writes, “Emotional work is the act of regulating, modifying, or manipulating one’s feelings in order to have a positive effect on another person’s feelings.” It is also a work that is “often invisible, heavily feminized and devalued”. As a result, it often leads women to burnout.
The solution: sharing the burden
Hackman says women need to demand more credit for their emotional work. In the family, this means showing authentic feelings rather than playing easygoing, and sharing the burden of emotional nurturing, such as asking your partner to calm your angry child, or insisting your siblings meet also take care of the elderly parents. Even if it feels unnatural or uncomfortable at first, it’s worth it because it keeps you from becoming bitter. Because, as writer Elizabeth Gilbert wrote, resentment is to the soul what smoking is to the lungs: “Just one puff is bad for you.”