Rushing Woman's Syndrome: The Impact Of A Never-Ending To-Do List And How To Stay Healthy In Today's Busy World

Product Information

Acute stress situations cause an increase in stress hormones – adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cortisol. Cortisol is important to blood pressure regulation and the normal functioning of several body systems including cardiovascular, circulatory and reproduction. During stressful times our heart rate increases and blood vessels dilate (to allow increased blood flow to the big muscle groups), increasing blood pressure. If this stress continues and therefore the release of stress hormones, this can increase the frequency of symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, and depression. For example, long-term exposure to cortisol can contribute to weight gain. The perceived need to rush is changing the face of women’s health in a detrimental way. From PMS to IBS, from losing our tempers to feeling like we can’t cope.Whether a woman displays it on the outside or keeps it under wraps, more are suffering.

It’s not just the physical health consequences that concern me for women. It’s that they live their lives so out of touch with their beautiful hearts, out of touch with how extraordinary they are and in the cloud of false belief that they aren’t enough.One of the biggest challenges facing women’s health today is the way stress hormone production is interfering with sex hormone balance. Too many women now suffer with premenstrual syndrome (PMS), PCOS, endometriosis and experience debilitating menopauses, which can have both physical and emotional health consequences. Yournervous system doesn't know that the adrenalin pumping inside youis not from a physical threat to your life, but rather your body's response to the caffeine you drink, or your sense of everydaypressure. From painful periods to fluid retention, from anxiety to yelling at the people we love the most in the word and berating ourselves afterwards, it has been a long time since women’s health has faced such an intense hormonal challenge. This interference of stress hormones with sex hormones is one of the major biochemical factors I describe in Rushing Woman’s Syndrome. That, in a nutshell, is Rushing Woman’s Syndrome. And if you’ve thought while reading this, “Boy, I bet that’s got worse in the past decade,” you are bang on the money. Libby says one of the things she hears most often – and particularly during the pandemic years – is “Oh yes, I bought that book – it’s sitting beside my bed, I just haven’t had time to read it yet.” (The Rushing Woman’s curse). This perceived need to rush and the relentless pursuit to be all things to all people is causing detrimental changes to our bodies and driving a long-term crisis in women’s health.

These days women are often in a permanent state of stress – juggling their family, career, finances as well as a chaotic lifestyle. There are biochemical consequences to this constant rush – resulting in imbalanced hormones, HPA axis dysfunction, sluggish thyroid glands and so on.So, how can we look to support our thyroid? “When it’s not working, I’ll often use the phrase ‘the road in is the road out,’” Libby says. “The first thing is to find out what’s leading your thyroid to not function at its best.” Unless you have Wonder Woman’s (or Wolverine’s) powers, then don’t try and imitate the original. This undertaking is bound to fail. You are a unique, graceful and fragile human being (male or female).