A Comparative Study to assess the Stress Buster among Working and Non-Working Women

Introduction: Stress is the body’s response to the daily events that occur in one’s life. Everyone experiences stress. Stress can be positive and motivate women to achieve notable goals. But stress can also be negative and destructive, taking its toll in many life areas. When stress becomes chronic or excessive, it becomes harder to adapt and cope. Chronic stress builds up so that stress seems like a normal way of life for some women. Women have undergone various different stresses, which vary from person to person. The objective of this study is to assess stress buster among working and non-working women. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional survey study carried out among working and nonworking women. The total sample size was 103. A self administered questionnaire was used for the survey and was distributed through an online platform. Data was collected and analysed by Pearson and chi-squares test and p-value of 0.05 was said to be statistically significant. Result: When compared to non working women, working women stress level was higher and they search for stress busters. Majority of the women population feel stressed, irritable, grouchy and Original Research Article Hinaz et al.; JPRI, 33(47B): 636-644, 2021; Article no.JPRI.74404 637 anxious. Majority of the population also prefer listening to songs and also prefer to sing to overcome their stress. Conclusion: Both working and non-working women are equally stressed, while non-working women tend to overreact to situations. Majority of the women population prefer listening to songs to overcome stress.


INTRODUCTION
Stress can be defined as any kind of mental distress that induces anger and frustration among individuals. Stress and the kind of stress can vary from person to person [1]. Women suffer increased rates of physical and mental stress than men. The male-female health survival paradox is a phenomenon in which women undergo various medical conditions and disability during their lifespan [2]. Degree of stress and stressors in a woman's life is entirely dependent on her surroundings, [3] let it be the place where she works, or at home [4]. The socio-cognitive explanation of the difference in health among working and non-working women is considerably huge both emotionally and physically[5] [6]. Degrading mental health can be observed in the case of both working and non-working women [7]. The implication of stress on reproductive health is also associated with their everyday stressors [8] . Chronic stress is the prolonged feeling of stress that can show negative consequences on life[9,10]. When you have a look at the history of stress, there are various other parameters that affect your mental health[11] [12]. All of this can be overcome through relevant mental and health care and also through proper activities [13]. Stress also has its major impact on the HPA axis (hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis) and on the autonomic nervous system [13,14]. It contributes to stress response and also to chronic elevation [15].Various other health changes can also be monitored such as blunting of cortisol, physiological dysfunction, decreased DHEAS and increased blood pressure [16]. Recent studies conducted on the US population revealed that African-American women of midlife experience a unique kind of stress due to racism [17]. Stress can be positive and motivate women to achieve notable goals. But stress can also be negative and destructive, taking its toll in many life areas [15,18]. When stress becomes chronic or excessive, it becomes harder to adapt and cope [19]. Stress in women's life can be very tiresome and hectic that women often forget to rest [20].Our team has extensive knowledge and research experience that has translate into high quality publications [21][22][23][24][25].
This research basically fulfils the understanding of causes and differences in stress and how they are overcome among the working and nonworking women.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
A cross sectional study was conducted within the south Indian population particularly in Chennai among the working and non-working women, with an estimated sample size of 103 and the sampling technique used was a simple random sampling method with a standard questionnaire. To ensure anonymity, questions regarding the names were not included in the questionnaire. As the questionnaire is circulated via online mode the responses were different with varied perspectives of answers. The cons were biased answers, as the answers for the questions could have been randomly chosen. This survey was conducted in February 2021. SPSS is the statistical software that was used for this survey. External validity was email-verification and expert verification. Women of various ethnicities were included; women from rural areas were not included due to lack of potential knowledge and communication. The correlation of working and non working women was done using Pearson and Chi-Square test and p values less than 0.05 were found to be statistically significant.

RESULTS
In the present study, 51 were working women and 52 were non-working women. 57% of the population feel that too many decisions are being imposed on them (Fig. 1). 54% of the population is mentally exhausted (Fig. 2). 59% of the populations have trouble relaxing (Fig. 3). When compared to non working women, the working women felt more helpless and frustrated at the time of stress (Fig. 4). Majority (71%) of them felt that they made too many decisions (FIGURE 5) and the majority of them also felt irritable, grouchy and anxious (FIGURE 6) . 61% prefer listening to songs and also enjoy singing to overcome stress. 55% were willing to cook at home and also prefer watching satisfying videos on YouTube. While 54% of the population feel that sleeping helps them to overcome stress. 54% of the populations have stress-eating habits. 54% prefer going on a small vacation every now and then. 54% of the population felt that they do have enough time for themselves, while the rest disagree. 45% of the population prefers doing stress relieving rangolis. Both working and nonworking women equally feel emotional at times of stress. Majority of the working women feel anxious, agitated and restless at times of stress, when compared to that of non-working women. Both working and non-working women feel extremely irritable and grouchy (55%). At the same time the majority of them feel they have enough time, that will be 57% and the remaining 46% disagree. In this survey, the majority of the women feels too many demands are being made on them, and are also mentally exhausted. Both the Working and non-working women feel they have too many decisions to make in their life.

DISCUSSION
Previous study revealed that working women such as IT professionals experienced higher levels of stress when compared to the nonworking women and that safeguarding the mental health of the employees is the basis for a peaceful nation [26,27].According to the previous research conducted , most of working women when they are feeling stressed, they are getting angered(30%) and others when they are getting stressed ,they don't get proper sleep [28]. Also that 22% of working women are having poor concentration and 20% of working women are having emotional outbursts, the impact of stress on personal problems and family problems are equal to 40% and only 20% of the working women are facing job & organizational problems [29].
Women's physiological health and its response to stressors have various health effects on the body [30]. The autonomic nervous system also responds to various stress stimuli [31,32]. The present competitive age which includes the young generation possesses comparatively higher degree of stress, depressions and attempted suicide [33]. Adolescence is the dangerous period when physiological and behavioral changes occur [34]. Participants when questioned during a survey reveal that everyday stressors cause most stress which has its impact on processes and enjoyment [30,35] [36,37]. Concerning health and lifestyle in a study conducted, participants' health status and depression was calculated using (Depression, anxiety and stress scale-21) DASS-21 [38] [28,39]. Stressors influence mood and also the sense of well being [40] [41]. In a study conducted, students either have normal or lower stress levels but the stress levels among mothers are reported significantly higher [42].
Limitation includes random picking of answers by the responders. And only women of a smaller group that is a 103 sample size were analyzed through online survey. The sample size could have been larger including women of various ethnicities. The same survey can be conducted on a larger sample size, to understand various stress parameters among the working women and their occupational difficulties and differences. The stress difference between differentwomen of different ethnicities and countries can be analyzed through a global survey.

CONCLUSION
From this study, the authors concluded that both working and nonworking women feel mentally exhausted. Working women comparatively have trouble relaxing when compared to non-working women. Both working and non-working women feel they do not have enough time for themselves. Finally women of various working sectors and also the non-working women are aware of the various stressors that influence their everyday life.

CONSENT
As per international standard or university standard, patients' written consent has been collected and preserved by the author(s).

ETHICAL APPROVAL
We conducted our research after obtaining proper IEC approval.