Stress in America seems to be running at an all-time high. Money, work and children are the factors cited as the most stress-inducing things in most peoples lives and the combination can lead to feelings of life as a chaotic stream of events that are beyond our control. The relatively new phenomenon of constant layoffs has only added a new dimension of anxiety.
Those who endure stress over a long period of time usually start to notice some little health problems cropping up over and over. It occasionally begins as a headache that refuses to go away and then you might notice that you catch colds way more often than you did before. People who are exposed to heavy stress for a long period of time can find themselves subject to many much more serious health problems.
Heavy stress can often result in frequent health problems. Anger, feelings or fatigue and lack of motivation are all common ailments linked to high levels of stress. Obesity, hair loss and obsessive compulsive disorders (OCD) are all common side-effects of a lifetime of high stress. Many other health problems are made much worse by the effects of stress in our lives.
The American Psychological Association (APA) published the results of a survey appropriately named “Stress In America” that underlines some shocking trends in the declining mental health of Americans and the health problems caused by exposure to high levels of chronic stress. The APA commissioned Harris Interactive to conduct the national on-line poll that included 1,037 parents of children aged 8-17.
For the parents surveyed, this high exposure to chronic stress the norm rather than the exception. 32% of the parents in the survey reported levels of stress categorized as “extreme” with a score of at least 8 on a scale of 10. To make matters worse, instead of changing their lifestyle or their behavior, those with chronic exposure to stress usually try to handle it in unhealthy ways that only end up making it worse. Excessive eating, sleeping and drinking alcohol are reported as the most common ways of coping. In the group of people reporting high levels of stress, less than one third felt that they were doing a good job of managing their stress.
Clearly, given the growing levels of stress and the implied threat to the health of those suffering from it, some changes are needed sooner rather than later. Instead of exercise, the most common ways people report that they deal with their stress are reading, listening to music or watching television. While many people resist changing these unhealthy behaviors because they feel that they lack willpower we need to find a way to balance home and work life and to make sure that we take the time to engage in proven stress-reducing behaviors.
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