Do people take the news too personally? Or women? Many adolescents encounter news through television or in social media from Facebook updates or Twitter feeds, and may be grieved or captivated with a particular issue. However, gender plays a key role in causing stress from “unhealthy” news.

In particular, women tend to respond to negative issues with deeper expression through stress, both physically and emotionally. Women have a greater chance of releasing the stress hormone cortisol after reading or watching negative news updates, and absorb the negative aspect of news more deeply than men do. According to the American Psychological Association, 28 percent of women report having a great deal of stress, compared to 20 percent of men.

However, it appears that men don’t emphasize stress management as much as women do. Women are more likely to be diagnosed with kinds of chronic physical illnesses associated with stress and unhealthy behaviors, but they are aware of the consequences of insufficient stress management, thus, most women use several strategies to combat stress such as shopping, reading or visiting a spa and so forth.

“Women respond to stress by increasing activity in brain regions involved with emotion,” assistant professor or radiology and neurology, Dr. J.J. Wang said. “These changes last longer than in men. [This] may help us begin to explain the gender differences in the incidence of mood disorders.”

The human body reacts to challenges presented to it through the sensation of stress. To maintain a healthy lifestyle, stress must be managed. Regular exercise and sleep patterns are just some ways that people manage their stress.

“I manage stress by taking a break,” senior Jonathan Fabio said. “Sometimes you just need to loosen up before you can get things done.”

Stress can be categorized into good and bad stress. Good stress can encourage students to confront obstacles rather than avoiding them, while bad stress can interfere with a student’s health. Bad stress can cause someone to make poor choices, preventing the completion of tasks and sometimes leading to extremes, like drug usage or (psychological disorder).

“I think girls over think things, and [believe that] they are weak and will suffer any new trauma they hear about,” sophomore Christina Rodriguez said. “Guys just brush it off like it’s no big deal.”