THE FEMALE STRESS SYNDROME

by Georgia Witkin-Lanoil ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1984

The usual suggestion on combating stress--centered around recognition of stressors particular to women. Witkin-Lanoil, of New York's Mt. Sinai Medical College, lists some stresses ""women claim as their own"": those associated with their physiology (including menstruation, pregnancy, menopause), with life changes (marriage, divorce, reaching age 40) or life crises (caring for a dying parent, or handicapped child); those faced in situations that challenge old roles (the housewife going back to work) and ""hidden stresses"" (from chauvinism to talking to two-year-olds). She explains how readers can recognize the ill effects of stress--from common headaches and gastrointestinal distress to more female-specific complaints (such as amenorrhea, anorgasm, or one of the various eating disorders). Then routinely, she reviews how women's upbringing and place in society may affect their response to stress, and looks more closely at how love, sex, marriage, mothering, working, growing older, and other life situations may contribute. A final section offers help with retraining the mind and body responses to stress: meditation, assertiveness tips, and some physical exercises are among the recommendations. Old-hat but serviceable: the basics on stress reorganized into a sympathetic, female-oriented format.

Pub Date: March 1, 1984

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Newmarket--dist. by Scribners

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1984

Categories: NONFICTION