Overall, men are generally under a great deal of stress much of the time. Men need to deal with the pressures of working at least one or more jobs, financial issues, parenting issues, and relationship issues.
Another reason that stress management is so important for men is because they tend to not talk about their feelings as much as women do, and bottled up emotions regarding relationships and life’s problems can actually make stress worse.
These stressors can elevate a man’s stress level and can lead to illnesses that wouldn’t be there if stress were managed successfully.
Here are ten reasons why men need to address their levels of stress:
1 – Stress can affect fertility. Research has shown that stress in men decreases their sperm count. If the man wants to be able to conceive a child with his partner, this can only be accomplished effectively by reducing the amount of stress in the man’s life.
2 – Stress can affect libido. Men who are under a great deal of stress have chemical changes going on in their body that can affect their sex drive. When stress is causing poor libido, this only leads to more relationship stress and the cycle of stress and libido is perpetuated.
3 – Stress can affect erections. Men under stress can suffer from erectile dysfunction. The reasons for this are not clear but may be due to psychological anxiety related to stress that negatively impacts the man’s ability to get or maintain an erection. When the stress is reduced, the degree of erectile dysfunction diminishes and sex can be normal again.
4 – Stress can cause heart disease. Men are at a greater risk of heart disease in the first place when compared to women. Stress only exacerbates the risk of heart disease. There are many factors that go into getting heart disease, many of which are directly related to being under stress.
5 – Stress can lead to obesity. Men who are under stress tend not to eat healthy diets and instead eat foods that are high in calories and sugar. These things lead to obesity, especially around the waistline. This type of obesity is highly linked to the development of various diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and metabolic syndrome.
5 – Stress can lead to metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a lifestyle and metabolic condition that results from leading an unhealthy lifestyle and eating foods that lead to obesity. In metabolic syndrome, there is high blood pressure, high triglycerides, increased fat around the waistline, low HDL cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes. Stress can cause these metabolic changes to happen, which increases the risk of several serious diseases, such as stroke and heart disease.
7 – Stress can lead to high blood pressure. Stress causes the release of epinephrine in the body so that blood pressure and heart rate are increased. Reducing stress can lower the blood pressure and can reduce the risk of diseases related to high blood pressure.
8- Stress can lead to depression. While men have a decreased risk of depression when compared to women, men under stress will experience a greater risk of major depression sometime during their life. This can lead to a poor quality of life until both the stress and depression are effectively dealt with.
9 – Stress can lead to anxiety. Men who cant handle the stressors of their life will begin to suffer from symptoms of anxiety. This can negatively affect the quality of life the man experiences unless the stressors in the man’s life are handed.
10 – Stress can lead to type 2 diabetes. This type of diabetes in on the rise, mainly because of poor health habits related to stress. Men under stress will eat more and will become overweight. This increases the risk for type 2 diabetes. Only through stress reduction and weight reduction can the man lessen the risk of type 2 diabetes.
