The United States Department of Health and Human Services issued a report in conjunction with the beginning of Women’s Health Week. The report found that women may be almost twice as likely to suffer from major depression than men. Furthermore, the rates of anxiety disorders are two to three times greater in women than in men. Anxiety comes in many forms such as panic disorder, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), agoraphobia, specific phobias, and social phobias.
These high rates of distress in women not only affect women, but their families, friends, and coworkers as well. Anxiety or depression may cause mothers to be less able to take cheerful care of their children, women may have more trouble keeping their households organized, and women workers miss work due to emotional and physical manifestations of their mental disorders. The burden of mental illness on the society as a whole through loss of productivity, loss of wages, and cost of care has been well documented. However the personal loss of a child who yearns for a happy moment with a mother who is depressed, a woman who can’t enjoy the first few days of spring, or the woman who finds life a series of hurdles cannot be quantified.
So, what can we do to help? There are many ways to improve lives. Lots of help is available. But today, I want to share with you a simple solution that involves a commitment from women. This will cost next to nothing and no other treatment has been found to be as consistently successful. Get moving. That’s right, exercise. When I learned about the information about higher rates of anxiety and depression in women, I wanted to find a bit more information. So, I went to the US Dept of Health website: www.womenshealth.gov
While I was surfing for more information, I ran across a program called “woman activity tracker.” You can sign up for free (I did), then you set a modest goal of doing some amount of exercise. You don’t have to be public with your information. Starting this week and running through June 28th, you can become part of a national challenge by setting up and meeting personal goals for 8 weeks. If you compete, you will get emails for the 8 weeks which will encourage you to stay motivated. You also get trophies and a certificate for completing the program. Okay, the trophies are really email images, but still fun. Start by registering for the Woman Activity Tracker and then go to My Woman Challenge page. The website is easy to navigate. So, if you suffer from anxiety, depression, stress, or just the blahs, now is a great time to get going.
A couple of warnings. Before you start any exercise program, please check with your doctor. If you cannot get yourself to move, if you are feeling helpless or hopeless, you are likely to need more than an increase in exercise. Please check with a mental health professional immediately
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Panic Disorder For Women | Hypnotherapy Institute (June 2, 2009)
Thank you for this article. This article was immensely helpful to me. I’ve found that exercising helps with my anxiety, depressing, and relieves so much stress. It sounds so simple, but the endorphines are wonderful. I started exercising a gain a few weeks again and the sweat and activity releases all the toxins and tension in my body. I’ve always heard about how exercise is the best medicine and it really is. I haven’t exercised in a year and when I started back, I became energetic, focused, and productive again. It’s one of the best feelings in the world.
Good for you. Let’s hope you can inspire one more person to join you! Thanks and take care
Exercise has been the key to my dealihg with a chronic illness. It is amazing how walking can relieve stress and give a lift to your mood.
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