That depends on whom you ask. One survey of 38,000 men and women across 44 countries found that women scored themselves as more satisfied with their lives. Women who rate their happiness based on personal and domestic matters might consider themselves more content than men who rate their bliss based on financial success - at least until middle age, when one study shows men appreciate their families more.
Emotional Health
How well you handle stress, anger, relationships, work, family life-it all factors into your emotional health. Finding balance in life-as well as peace of mind-helps us cope with life's ups and downs. Take time to explore new ways to find stress relief, and to release anxiety, and unhappiness. Counseling can help-as can a gratitude journal.
Recently Answered
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Good In Bed answeredJust as trying to conceive can affect your sex life as a couple, it can also pose special challenges for men and women individually. For guys, the pressure to perform -- and deliver -- on demand can be even more stressful than you might imagine. What at first seems like an all-you-can-eat sexual buffet may eventually give a man a proverbial stomachache in the form of low sexual desire, erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation, or delayed ejaculation. Be aware of how conception sex can trigger or worsen these issues, and consult a physician or sex therapist if they don’t resolve. -
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Dr. Robert J. Hedaya, MD , Psychiatry, answeredWomen have twice the frequency of depression as men, and are more vulnerable to many psychiatric disorders between puberty and menopause. Menopause and the postpartum are times of high vulnerability for women. Women are more likely to be hospitalized or jailed in the days just before menstruation begins. Transdermal estrogen has been proven in three studies to have antidepressant effects (as opposed to oral estradiol). -
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Arianna Huffington , Health Education, answered
There’s no doubt that it takes some exceptional qualities to get to the top. Especially when, on the way up, a woman will be dogged by charges of “ambition,” “drive,” and “pushiness.” But the biggest obstacle isn’t the media or male colleagues (or even some of our fellow females). Worse than the culture’s approach to women in power are our own fears about power: the fear that we’re setting ourselves up for attack, the fear that we’ll alienate others, the fear that we may actually become the caricature of the obnoxious, shrill, she-devil boss. All these fears manifest themselves in the fear of expressing ourselves. It’s an internalized censorship of ambition. Which is all the worse because, now more than ever, we need women leaders to take us beyond the world of fear we live in. Real leadership is too rare and too valuable to limit the pool to half the population.
As it turns out, women are ideally suited to supplying the qualities we need in leaders right now: being strong and decisive while at the same time being nurturing, wise, and respectful enough to tell the truth with a moral authority that inspires and empowers. We can no longer afford to look for leadership solely among elected officials. We must learn to mine the greatest and most unexploited leadership resource available to us: ourselves.
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Arianna Huffington , Health Education, answered
The concept of femininity frequently interferes with a woman’s ability to be assertive and aggressive -- especially at work. We so want to be liked that we worry about alienating people, so we often try to get what we want behind the scenes while still being careful to avoid seeming manipulative and disingenuous. It’s nice to be nice, but it can be extremely draining and self-destructive when it mutes our voice, holds us back, and undermines our authenticity. Fear of sticking our necks out because of how we’ll be perceived often causes us to sabotage our careers. And the consequences of stifling ourselves aren’t just financial. Deeply ingrained cultural ideals of femininity make it much harder for women to own up fearlessly to their ambitions and pursue them without apology. We pay the price in opportunity, achievement, success, and satisfaction.
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Lisa Oz , Health Education, answeredWhenever you have attachments - to people, things, or situations - there exists the inherent risk that they could be taken from you. This opens you up to the constant possibility of pain. When you lose something you care deeply about, you suffer. The Buddhist solution to this unpleasant reality is to shun attachment.
We all have things that we feel we cannot possibly do without. However, the fact is that we came into this world with nothing and we will go out the exact same way. The only difference will be who we have become. Even the people in our lives are impermanent. On the purely physical level, people will leave us or we will leave them. The measure of a relationship is its depth of commitment and its quality of connection, not its duration. We cannot let our fear of loss become an excuse for not loving . . . or living. Although real loss generates profound pain, most of us do not live with this sort of emotional trauma on a daily basis. Nevertheless, we do not seem to be happy. We grumble and complain about everything from an obnoxious neighbor to overcooked fish. We sulk, scowl, frown, and whine. This kind of negativity is not transformative. It only helps to make you miserable.
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Discovery Health answeredSigmund Freud coined the term "penis envy" to describe the displeasure that little girls experience when they realize they do not have a penis. It also describes how these girls to take actions over the course of their lives to compensate for lacking a penis.
To the delight of many feminists, a good many psychologists downplay this idea, or dismiss it entirely. They say it is entirely possible for women to be motivated on their own power, without having to compensate for a lack of male parts.
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Arianna Huffington , Health Education, answered
One way to overcome the fears of being ambitious and assertive is by learning how to play the men’s office “game” but tailoring it to our own style. Taking credit for our work and accomplishments and fearlessly negotiating for compensation can be interpreted as ambitious and aggressive. But as Gail Evans observes in her book Play Like a Man, Win Like a Woman, says, “You are who you say you are.” If you act timid and unimportant, that’s how you’ll be perceived.
We have to let go of the idea that we must be sweet all the time if we’re going to be “real women.” This doesn’t mean we have to become obnoxious ogres. We can be assertive without sacrificing charm and humor. Humor especially can be very effective in taking the edge off being assertive. We can be a lot more challenging if we don’t take ourselves too seriously.
Connecting with people on a personal level is also key. Even with those we interact with only at work, it’s important to remember that their lives- their joys and their troubles- consist of much more than work. And the more at ease we are with ourselves and our own emotions the more able we’ll be to reach out to others in a personal way. It all comes down to what the French call “être bien dans sa peau”: to feel good in your own skin -
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Dr. Howard S. Smith , Pain Medicine, answeredThere is the emotional side of a woman’s pain. When pain goes on long enough, it can lead to fatigue, insomnia, depression, broken relationships, loss of income, and even suicide. -
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Boston Women's Health Book Collective , Administration, answered
Some women deliberately cause self-injury, possibly in response to trauma as a child or an adult. They may cut, hit, or burn themselves or pull out their hair in an effort to cope with overwhelming feelings. The self-injury is not about suicide but rather is an attempt to cope (although one might have suicidal feelings apart from the self-injury).
Some mental health professionals find self-injury difficult to deal with and sometimes react with unhelpful frustration and accusatory language, for example, "You are doing this just to get attention." It is important to find someone experienced with this problem who can be sympathetic and supportive, and who understands how self-injury can serve as a soothing mechanism when difficult feelings become overwhelming. Some women find it helpful to start or join a support group. Because there is a lot of shame involved in self-injury, it is often kept a secret that women bear alone.