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If you’re in Arizona, that may be less likely than in other states as Arizona was ranked the 12th most-stressed state in the U.S., according to a recent report from WalletHub.
With April being Stress Awareness Month and millennials reporting the highest average stress levels of any generation, WalletHub compared the 50 states across 40 key metrics. Those include average hours worked per week, personal bankruptcy rate, and share of adults getting adequate sleep.
“Arizona ranked highest in job security. Plus, annual health insurance premiums have decreased by almost 9%,” WalletHub Analyst Jill Gonzalez said. “However, there is still a lot of room for improvement. The state struggles with high unemployment, and residents have a lot of debt. Additionally, a large share of adults only pay the minimum on their credit cards, and 17% of the population is living in poverty. Parental stress is at a high level in Arizona, as well. More than 14% of parents had to change or quit their jobs because of child care problems. Another area the state needs to improve on is crime rate, as it has the seventh most hate-crime incidents per capita.”
Louisiana is the most-stressed state, followed by Mississippi, Arkansas, Kentucky and West Virginia. Residents of Minnesota, Utah, Massachusetts and the Dakotas are the least stressed.
Arizona ranks among the top 16 in having the highest stress in areas like family life (4th highest), financial and health/safety. However, work-related stress keeps the state outside the Top 10 overall, with Arizona having the highest job security.
WalletHub used 16 metrics under the Health & Safety category, and it’s no surprise that it had the most of the four categories.
“Stress affects us more than we realize, and taking care of our mental health is equally important as caring for our physical well-being,” Ms. Gonzalez said. “It’s important we learn how to deal with stress and how to manage stressful situations, so that they don’t affect the quality of our lives.”
Dr. Brian Luke Seaward, Ph.D., is an author and motivational speaker of holistic stress management.
He told WalletHub that people need to address both the causes — or ego-based perceived threats — and physical symptoms of stress.
He emphasized seeking out coping skills and relaxation techniques that are self-imposed and almost as important, free. Those include maintaining humor, assessing whether a life event is actually life-threatening, and putting things into perspective.
“Stress occurs when people make mountains out of mole hills,” Mr. Seaward stated.
Regularly attending support groups and establishing healthy boundaries are also ways to combat stress.
The Maricopa County Library District has been offering “Laughter Yoga” this month at White Tank Library in Waddell as an activity for patrons to reduce stress. The concept combines laughter with breathing techniques.
Kim Carroll, West Regional Manager for the library district, said laughter yoga is a way for the body to release endorphins that trigger stress, even if the laughing is forced.
“It’s still telling the body the same thing,” Ms. Carroll said. “Once they get over that awkwardness of forcing laughter, they really enjoy the class.”
While the class is only offered at the Waddell library, laughter yoga can be done from just about anywhere.
The district is only providing the class in April but may continue into other months depending on feedback.
Younger adults are more stressed
Millennials have been found to be the most stressed of any generation of people currently.
In August 2018, a survey from the American Psychological Association found millennials had the highest average stress levels at 5.7 out of 10.
The average for all adults is 4.9, although Baby Boomers and older adults fare much lower on the stress level.
The current political climate, the nation’s future and gun violence are among the top factors contributing to stress, the survey revealed.
Mr. Seaward’s list of relaxation techniques are likely not to sit well immediately for millennials, but are still worth pursuing. That includes turning WiFi routers off at night, scheduling tech-free time, and decreasing caffeine consumption.
“People today spend way too much time on screen devices and this affects work quality, work productivity, relationships, and compromises sleep quality,” Mr. Seaward stated. “It also cultivates insecurities, and negativity. Keep all technology out of the bedroom.”For parents, reducing stress levels in their children mainly comes down to getting children to mimic good behavior. But at the same time, parents shouldn’t protect children from stress.
“Teach your children it’s okay to be angry or afraid, but to work through it and learn to resolve the issues that bring up these emotions,” Mr. Seaward said.
“The last thing any parent should do is teaching their kids to avoid stress.”
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