Women and Stress Research

Stress has increasingly become associated with greater susceptibility to various illnesses. The condition is also costly from an economic and financial perspective, but such costs hardly reflect the human costs of emotional trauma and physical suffering that result from the illness. Women today are in a situation where both the monetary and human effects of stress take their toll as women face unprecedented pressures in accommodating the demands of home and career and personal family stresses that often result. In addition to this, while women are prone to the same stressors as men, they are confronted with potentially unique physical and psychological stressors of their own. They may also become stress "carriers" as in the abusive husband and unfair boss relationship. Ironically, despite these differences women live longer than men, although collectively they are reported to have more symptoms, illnesses, intake of drugs and doctor-hospital visits. This outstanding new book by a pioneer in stress research presents an essential analysis of this increasingly relevant subject.