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Good health entails physical function, as well as the ability to carry out activities and roles as a member of society. But it also includes mental and emotional well-being. Moreover, these domains of health overlap. Sickness and injury can bring about emotional difficulties such as depression,(1)(2) while stress and anxiety may manifest themselves in physical illness.(3)(4)
Data about the prevalence of stress, emotional problems and chronic conditions provide some indication of the people who are vulnerable and in need of support. Thus, the information is important not only in terms of disease prevalence and mortality, but also from a public health perspective.
Although women generally live longer than men, throughout their lives women are more subject to a wide range of chronic conditions.(5) The consequences of these conditions are often associated with activity limitations and poor health. However, the impact of those problems and responses to them differ for males and females.
Personal stress
Work, family and social commitments often contribute to a sense of time pressure, feeling that one has not met others' expectations, and feeling unappreciated. The resulting stress can influence the onset and progression of physical illness (see Stress and disease).
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In the National Population Health Survey (NPHS), personal stress was defined as: trying to take on too much at once; feeling pressure to be like other people; feeling that others expect too much; feeling that your work around the home is not appreciated; and feeling that others are too critical of you. In 1994/95 (the most recent data available), 45% of women aged 18 or older reported that they were trying to do too much at once; 38% of men felt this way. Similarly, a third of women, but just over a quarter of men, said that others expected too much of them. Women were also more likely than men to feel pressure to be like others, or that their work around the home was not appreciated.
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Not surprisingly, then, high personal stress-defined as experiencing at least two of these forms of stress-was more common in women than men. And though personal stress tended to decline at older ages, in each age group, a larger proportion of women than men were affected.
Work stress
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