Researchers from American Psychological Association (APA) analysed data from two surveys conducted online. The first survey was conducted during the period between June 23 and August 13 2008 and involved 1791 participants, the other one was conducted in April 2008 and involved 2529 participants. All participants were older than 18 and they were questioned about economy affects they emotional and physical health.
Researchers found that nowadays people are more concerned about economy and this seriously affects their health. Most of US residents now suffer stress: 81% of Americans are stressed because of money, 80% because of economy, 67% because of work, and another 67% because of health problems.
Stress in general has significantly increased during the past few month because of economy decline. Data analysis shows that in September there were 80% US adults stressed, compared with 66% in April, 2008. The gap is even deeper when comparing this year's data with 2007's data: stress-related fatigue cases were 53% in 2008, compared with 51% in 2007, irritability or anger was 60%, compared with 50% in 2007, sleepless nights were 52%, compared with 48% in 2007. Overall, half of questioned participants reported that they experienced more stress in 2008 than they did in 2007.
Participants were also asked about how they manage stress. Half of participants said they are exercising to be stress-free, 52% said they listen to music, 18% drink alcohol, and 16% smoke. This shows that not only stress itself is harmful, but also the possible ways of relieving stress can be unhealthy.
APA urges that stress significantly affects overall health and people should be watchful to manage it. Stress should not be left behind, it should be discussed with friends, family, and health professionals to avoid later complications.
Reported by Ruzanna Haroutiunyan
