ORLANDO, Fla. -- Stress is big business. According to the American Institute of Stress, stress costs employers $300 billion each year in health care and missed work. An entire stress-reduction industry has grown to soothe workers.

For individuals, stress is a dangerous business. Stress affects a person's health, relationships and emotional well-being.

The prescription for dealing with stress is not equal for men and women, WESH 2 News reported.

Everyone feels stress on the job, at home and in their marriage and relationships. Common sense leads to the conclusion that stress affects everyone in different ways. Some people get tired and depressed, while others get angry.

Recent studies show that when it comes to feeling stress, men and women are not created equal, and the same holds true for how they handle it.

Women are far more susceptible to psychological disorders and memory lapses than men. Women suffer from more headaches, pounding heart and muscle tension.

Stressed-out men, on the other hand, are at greater risk of experiencing high blood pressure, strokes and heart attacks. They also are more likely to use alcohol and eat less healthily in response to stress.

Men and women also deal with stress in different ways. Women tend to increase their family time and turn to close friends to discuss their problems, but so often what they really need is help at home.

"In many cases, the mother of the household is working full time, and the husband is working full time, and the female still carries the burden of handling most of the domestic responsibilities," Dr. Rex Birkmire said.

Men, on the other hand, let all that tension build up inside.

"If I had to tell you one thing that I think leads to the stress of a man right now is living his life in isolation," Birkmire said.

What men really need is to find one or two male friends they can bear their souls to, and there are steps both men and women can take to lower their stress.

"I pray a lot. I jog (and) take walks, definitely eat healthy," a woman said.

And get a lot of rest. A full night's sleep can do wonders for a person's mental health. The one thing neither men nor women should do when they are dealing with stress is pretend it doesn't exist.

"If you ignore it, it won't go away. The best thing to do with any type of foe or enemy in life is to turn around, and face it head on, and develop a game plan, a strategy, to deal with it," Birkmire said.