Statistics don't lie.
Here is a taste of what we are dealing with as women:
* 92 percent of working moms and 89 percent of stay-at-home mothers felt overwhelmed by work, home and parenting responsibilities.
*One in four women over 40 are on anti-depressants.
*Women are twice as likely as men to have anxiety and panic disorders.
What these statistics are indicating is that despite all our efforts to change our lifestyle, nurture ourselves, and reduce overwhelm -- we are actually more stressed!
This is causing many women to feel an undercurrent of sadness and stress, while suffering in silence.
The insidious suffering in silence comes through in behaviors such as:
*Finding yourself eating, even when you aren't that hungry.
*Needing a sugar boost to "make it through" the rest of your day.
*Drinking alcohol, more often, to "take the edge off."
*Feeling like your "edge" is more present than not.
You may also notice, as 50 percent or more of you report:
*Fatigue
*Lying awake a night
*Irritability & anger
*Fighting with people closest to you
The big red flag is if you sitting down on the toilet to relieve your bladder feels like the most relaxing part of your day. I am sorry ladies, this is when you are really in trouble!
When any of the above continues, or becomes routine, you will feel miserable.
I call this The Misery Epidemic - Why Women Are Sad, Stressed, and Suffering in Silence.
Activist Gloria Steinem has talked about numerous ways women are still suffering and has urged audiences from all over the globe to "get mad" about the present. Yet we aren't getting mad because too many women are emotionally flat-lined.
The underlying sense is there isn't time to feel due to everything you have going on within your life. Yet that may be an easy excuse, because if you were to feel, then what? ou would actually have to deal with the downward spiral of any negative feelings that have been shoved down for weeks, months, years, even decades.
What this emotional flat-line really means is that we don't trust ourselves. You don't trust how you feel and this is leading to greater misery.
You may not like hearing this, but to put an end to our misery, it isn't about getting more massages, taking more walks or drawing yourself nightly hot baths. The truly nurturing action to take is to listen to yourself. What do you want? What do you need? What do you desire?
If you were to listen, what would likely come forward are negative feelings. Yet those negative feelings have an empowered message telling you that aspects of your life need to change.
We need to be willing to reclaim our feelings back from the emotional stone-age, where others convinced us that this part of us was weak, and recognize that our emotional energy is the power and catalysts to putting an end to The Misery Epidemic for good.
IGive your head, fears, and "shoulds" a rest by tuning into the gateway of your personal truth by listening to what you feel. Doing so is a demonstration of your own personal value that immediate impacts your sense of self-worth. Give it a try!
If you desire more support on this topic, you can join me for my upcoming webinar The Misery Epidemic: 5 Reasons Women are Sad, Stressed, and Suffering in Silence. Find out more about it here: http://michellebersell.com/why-do-women-remain-in-silence-over-this/
Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-273-8255 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.