Do men need the love of a good woman? It may help them live longer. New research claims that men need to get to grips with life’s hassles and who better to help than a serene, multi-tasking woman?
Men just aren’t good at managing the stress in their lives. Men who are easily distressed are likely to die sooner than their peers. So says Carolyn Aldwin, director of the Centre for Healthy Aging Research in the College of Public Health and Human Science at Oregon State University.
The research, published in the Journal ‘Environmental Gerontology,’ found that it makes no difference whether the stress is from daily irritations or major life events. A total of 1,293 men were tracked over a 16-year period to measure their response to stress.
Two kinds of stress
You might imagine that the irritation of being late for work, stuck in traffic or bickering would hardly equate with the trauma of death or unemployment. Losing a close family member or facing life on the dole are major blows to security, continuity and safety. So why do minor irritations score so dangerously high for men?
Cave man
Men react to danger with an ancient hard-wired system which kicks in automatically. Crucially it doesn’t differentiate between actual danger and perceived threats. Someone cutting in at traffic lights provokes that same age-old adrenaline rush that fired up our ancient ancestors to defend against vicious animals.
Is stress killing your man?
This age-old response kicks in automatically when a man feels threatened, angry or upset. A cascade of hormones floods the system causing wear and tear on vital organs over time.
A woman’s touch
Women react differently to stress. Famed for multitasking and coping skills, able to seek help from others, and share the story, women are experts at diffusing the impact of daily hassles. Add in a predilection for looking after others, long walks, hot baths, laughter, and applying make-up at traffic lights and you’ll agree that women are good at managing stress. It’s all about being in control of what you can be in control of … and dealing with the unexpected as it happens.
Maybe it’s time to share your vital life-preserving skills with the man in your life. Hold onto your lipstick!
