What health issues you are most concerned about? Why? Interview 2-3 women (different ages, ethnicities and/or cultures if possible) and ask them the same question. Are your concerns similar or different? Explain.
As I began gathering ideas on what kinds of subjects to perform interviews on and how to approach them, I caught myself wondering if most of us as women tend to worry about similar things? Do we as women of very different lifestyles all worry about house maintenance, laundry, our weight, feeling sexy, our sex lives and keeping our children and husbands happy? Do we worry about ourselves and whether or not we are keepig ourselves healthy?
I interviewed two women of different socioeconomic backgrounds for this blog. The first woman was a middle aged woman of about 50 years of age who is a Physical Therapist of caucasian race, makes great money as a Department Director and has three lovely adolescent to young adult children and also married to a Doctor. The second woman is a woman of the poverty level, hispanic with five children and a modest home with a husband who owns a small mechanic shop.
When the first subject was asked the question about what health issues are most concerning to her, she mentioned the fact that stress takes a toll on her as she finds herself trying to keep a competent and competitive professional life as well as keeping her children on the right track and keeping her husband and her relationship happy.
Now the second subject had a very comparable answer as she mentioned that her day is never ending as she is always on the run with her childrens' events as well as keeps her household and husband as happy as possible.
Clearly, without going into an in depth past medical history of these two woman, we see that there is a direct similarity. Stress is a key factor in these two very different lives. These two woman are of very different background and means, but both battle stress and at times have trouble managing it appropriately. Stress is a very ignored symptom that can lead to very alarming diseases such as but surely not limited to Acid Peptic Disease, Alcoholism, Asthma, Fatigue, Tension Headache, Hypertension, Insomnia, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Ischemic Heart Disease, Psychoneuroses, Sexual Dysfunction, Skin diseases like Psoriasis ,Lichen planus ,Urticaria, Pruritus, Neurodermatitis etc (Babu, 2007).
The similarity between these two interviews highlights the importance on stress management and how we should cope with the demands of our lives. We are constantly pressured on perfection that it can take very severe effects on our health. Hopefully as we cope with stress in a more effective manner, our overall health and concerns will improve greatly.
Babu, Hanish. (2007). Diseases caused by stress. Retrieved June 9, 2011. http://www.lesstress.net/diseases-caused-by-stress.htm
The professionalism of your blog is impressive and adding that reference that describes how stress can lead to more serious diseases supports your argument well. I agree with you on the importance of coping with stress in a more effective manner. Stress has become a big problem in modern times and should not be ignored. Why do you think so many people find their lives so stressful in modern times? I am sure that people of ancient times had as much if not more stress to deal with, seeing as they were constantly in a conflict against nature for survival.
ReplyDeleteCynthia,
ReplyDeleteThe thought of stress being a health concern never crossed my mind until I read your post. Now that I'm thinking about it I'm realizing how much is done to address this health concern. There are endless articles in magazines and talks on the news about how to lead a more stress free lifestyle and the benefits of doing so. Great post!