Busy Women and Stress

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My last post was about struggling with juggling so much. Not much has change in my life since then, unfortunately, but after watching a piece on “World News” last night I think something needs to change. Some days I dream of dropping it all, moving to a remote part of the country and living a simple life. That’s not out of the question for me, but it’s not an option today. Today, I need to find a different solution.

The story profiled a busy working mother and I immediately saw myself. Getting the kids ready in the morning, doing the school drop off, hectic day at work, pick up kids, get dinner on table … you know how it goes.

“High stress levels in women can lead to a rise in cortisol, the hormone that takes charge of the adrenal glands, boosting our fight-or-flight response. This can be good in certain situations, such as when an emergency burst of strength or speed is needed, but long-term high cortisol levels can lead to long-term illness in women.

“According to Dr. Sherita Hill Golden of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, high levels of cortisol increase a woman’s risk for developing diabetes, heart disease, thinning of the bones, cognitive impairment, and depression. They can also lead to obesity and fatigue.” – — ABC News.

Can you say, Wake Up Call?

“One of the biggest problems, according to Golden, is that women, and consequently their doctors, don’t know how stressed they really are. Often, he said, “women are actually not articulating stress to their physicians because they’re thinking this is just a normal way of functioning.” – ABC News

Let’s get real for a minute, you may not think dropping off the kids at school is stressful, but we need to admit that it can be stressful. I know, as mothers, we often shrug it off and put on our superwoman cape, sending the message that we can handle it all, but this story sends a message about our health — as a result of stress.

Take a moment to watch the clip, it’s something that might just be as eye opening to you as it was for me. Not all of us can drop our commitments or move to a remote part of the country like we may dream of, but we can all make changes that will help our health.