BACKGROUND MANAGEMENT OF STRESS: MAN AND WOMAN
April 23rd, 2009 | Posted by admin | Category: Anti Depressants-Sleeping AidNo Comments
In our discussion of stress you will have noticed that there has been a recurrent theme that those things which we do in life, which are in tune with our natural biological heritage, are a help to us in the matter of stress. So it is with man and woman.
Our relationship of man and woman fulfils our biological needs at quite different levels. In carnal sex the massive discharge of nerve cells in orgasm temporarily relieves the individual of the tensions of stress. Sex as an expression of love has a similar effect. The tranquility of the togetherness which follows helps our brain to run quietly, allowing the integration of matters which were previously so disturbing. But our experience of man and woman in its effect on stress extends far beyond our physical intercourse together. All those aspects of our life which fulfill our biological needs make it easier for our brain to sort things out. Sleep, rest, leisure. And of equal importance is our experience of man and woman together.
In the simplest possible terms of biology, woman bears our child and nourishes the baby, while man provides food and shelter for both. Through this division of labour, and by the process of evolution, man and woman have developed certain qualities to suit them to their life’s task. Woman must understand the needs of her child before it can speak to her, so she has developed a natural understanding of others. Man, because of his biological role, has developed greater physical strength.
The basic biology of man and woman fits into our pattern of coping with stress in several ways. If this division of labour is our basic code of life, then our brain is doing things that it has learned to do over countless generations, and so has learned to do them without much hassle, and the tendency to stress is so much the less. This is a basic principle. But we must remember that patterns of life change, and sociological practices grow and develop from one generation to the next. Hence we have a tendency for woman to move from the biological creativity of the home to the material creativity of the outside world. At the same time man is moving towards a much greater participation in the care of the children. Both man and woman can benefit by this. Woman gains from her new vantage point to see wider horizons. Man gains by learning something of the intuitive skill of woman in handling others. But we must remember that these gains, great as they are to both man and woman, are valid only so long as the primary biological role of man’ and woman is still maintained as a basis.
This leads us further into the effect of the togetherness of man and woman in stress. Woman is strong in the intuitive understanding of others which she has inherited to help her with her children in their pre-verbal years. Man is strong in logic to help him as provider of food and shelter. The effect on stress comes through the closeness of man and woman together – the being with, the physical contact, the cuddle, the lying together – this physical closeness which brings with it our mental and spiritual closeness. In this man becomes aware of her intuitive understanding. He picks up something of it himself. And his brain runs profoundly quiet. Woman becomes aware of his strength. It gives her a sense of security, both physical and deep within her, and her brain runs profoundly quiet.
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