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November/December 2007 Alternative Health
Stressed Out? Tend and Befriend

When faced with stressful situations, women experience a different physical response than men, according to research from UCLA.

While men experience the flight-or-flight response, women react with the instinct to tend-and-befriend.

When stressed, women release the hormone oxytocin, which buffers the fight-or-flight response, and encourages women to tend children and gather with other women for support. Being with friends increases the flow of oxytocin, creating a calming effect, according to the journal Psychological Review.

However, this calming effect doesn't occur in men because the increased levels of testosterone that men produce when stressed reduces the calming effects of oxytocin. Estrogen produced by women seems to enhance the benefits of oxytocin.

The research confirms the importance of social support networks and a good shoulder to lean on when life is challenging.