I agree with Gina, it's not only men who put things off, many women do too, usually through fear or the 'I'll carry on, it'll be nothing' mentality. Although the Emmerdale storyline is a bit much for early evening (I'm glad I no longer watch soaps with young ones...and their friends!) and Val can be very coarse, I daresay there are people watching in a similar predicament... she is going to deal with it soon.
Soaps can't really win...if they deal with situations unrealistically quickly we complain they just don't happen that fast...and if they drag it out we get bored! Why do we keep watching? :)