A problem that affects women more

“The academic or labor demands that we impose, and that impose us at a cultural level, can expose us to more risks,” says Lucía Gil. “We face constant social comparison and we get many more tasks. And since we do not arrive, the situation generates guilt and punishment and leads us to procrastination. ‘As I do not arrive, I do nothing, “he explains. He also warns that It is a situation that can “devalue the personal image itselfwhich can lead to depression or self -image problems. To compensate we get more and more activities and it is a vicious circle, ”he says.

In addition, the psychologist explains that in many women, “eating emotionally or impulsively” can be one of the worrying answers. “We cannot be perfect in the management of our time, and we project that self -examination on our own body and those ‘games’ with food are generated,” Point out.

For his part, Emilia Redolar-Ripoll, a doctor in neuroscience and professor and researcher at the Oberta de Catalunya University (UOC), explains this reality from her perspective: “Being a woman is a factor that generates greater genetic vulnerability to the effects of stress”. And he adds that, although society advances on matters of equality, women continue to assume more loads than men.

The studies confirm that there are hardly any brain differences between men and women when we are born, but the expert confirms that “LTo the plasticity of the brain causes the social environment to mold it. In the case of women, it configures it more vulnerable to situations such as stress. ”

Laura Camps de Agorreta thus refers to those under 30, a Z generation that values ​​its time a lot: “They have been hypermedicated since childhood. On the one hand, they have verbalized their mental health problems much more, but, since there are not enough therapists in the system, they look for an immediate solution. In addition, as we want people to remain productive and medicine is patriarchal, the reality is that there are many women of this age who have been or are medicated.” In addition, he assures that all this “has to do with that self -examination, that feeling of having to be very good in everything and with the hustle and ‘multitasking culture‘”

On the other hand, the expert confirms that “generation Z has a fantastic thing: the social elevator was never believed because they have already seen that they were spoiled. They have not bought the discourse of the culture of the effort, doing extra -non -paid hours or unpaid practices. They value their time more. In addition, as they have little to lose because they live in enormous precariousness, their access to the labor market is cadastrophic and they do not usually have their people position, they can leave a job when they consider it. ”

The lack of time and its consequences on mental health

Emilia Redolar counts how the feeling of lack of control over our brain affects: “When the perception is that we cannot control the different loads and pressures that we accumulate, we generate more cortisol than recommended and it is very difficult for that answer. If that answer is activated for a long time and we do not have the ability to stop it comes the problem.” Cortisol acts on three parts of our brain: the prefrontal cortex, the tonsil and the hippocampus. “The hippocampus is very important for memory and to regulate emotions. Cortisol decreases the activation of the hippocampus and inhibits the formation of new neurons, which affects deteriorating our memory capacity and the regulation of emotions. This can produce a low mood and even depression,” says the expert.

In relation to how stress affects the prefrontal cortex, he affirms that “it is very important for decision -making and executive functions, look for solutions to problems. With respect to the amygdala, which is a structure that seeks signs of danger, cortisol makes it more reactive and let’s see danger of cognitive type where there is no.” In other words: any problem is done to us a world.

Know how to park and put the focus on leisure

When the perception of lack of control of our own time and our own life lurks us, it is (almost) impossible not to feel bad or fatal. But it is scientifically demonstrated that before two people subjected to the same amount of stress and with a similar life story, The greatest perception of lack of control is given in those whose focus is work. “However, people who work the same but who, when they leave the office, participate in other collective activities, such as theater classes or a reading club, prevent the main focus from being work. Although they have more tasks, they feel that they have control over them. And, in addition, on things that motivate them. It is not only Physiological, ”argues Redolar.

Laura Camps also coincides. The author of ‘We do not give us life’ advises participation in collective and self -managed spaces: “either an assembly of neighbors or in an urban garden. Any place where we enter into different people, who thinks different from us. It is good to get out of the isolation that sometimes produces stress, but also social networks,” he says. “Participating you realize that there are plots in your life that work, that you can get things, and that that time you dedicate to you, even just one day a week, you can turn to your favor,” he adds.

A sick society

We live in a ‘sick’ society. According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), andn The year 2030 More than 50% of the work leaves will be for mental health. “It will be officially, because the reality is that we have already reached that amount,” says Laura Camps. “Half of the people who are sick, go to the doctor and give them anxiolytics or antidepressants to continue working. There is a lot of work overload, poor management of casualties and in creative work, such as advertising or journalism is bestial,” he says. “Hyperexigence, always asking for a permanent excellence that is impossible to maintain, together with the lack of occupational hazards, makes the problem really worrying. In addition, companies do not want to address them.”

The expert adds that “many companies do not want to invest in risk prevention because they are afraid. If you discover that your workers have some discomfort you fear that this generates bad reputation and you leave there a problem that not only is not solved, but also makes a ball.”

The importance of putting limits

Faced with an emotional discomfort, derived from the feeling of lack of control over our own time, we cannot think that it is normal or that there is no solution because there is. “I in therapy resort to ‘mindfulness’, a great tool. We need to focus on doing a single thing at the same time and being fully aware,” says Lucía Gil. “We have to learn to stop, do a task every time, be aware of what happens to us. It would also be good to restructure all that culture of immediacy, of constant validation, of the importance you give to social networks and break with procrastination: mark realistic objectives and that the person feels good for herself and not because of external validation,” he details.

His advice is key: “rescue the agendas, whether on paper or on the mobile and distribute the tasks depending on whether they are urgent or not.” And it reaffirms in a fundamental idea: “We have to accept that we do not reach everything. We are not perfect and it is good to put limits to the same and also to others.”