Five-Minute Stress Relief.com

Stress Statistics

General Statistics on Stress

• 30% of workers suffer from back pain. 20% feel fatigued. 13% suffer from headaches.

• Anxiety disorders cost the US more than $42 billion per year.

• 19.1 million (13.3%) of the adult US population (between 18-54yrs) suffer from anxiety and panic attack.

• Forty-three percent of adults suffer adverse stress health effects.

• Two-thirds of all office visits to family physicians are due to stress-related symptoms.

• Sixty-four percent of Americans say they are taking steps to reduce stress in their lives.

• Stress is linked to the six leading causes of death—heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis of the liver, and suicide.

• 25 percent of workers have taken a day off from work to cope with stress.       

Breakdown of Americans Suffering Stress Symptoms

• 44% of 18-29 years of age,   46% of 30-49 years of age,   43% of full-time workers,  
  46% part-time workers,   40% women,   35% men.
  55% of those interview said they don’t have enough time to do what they want to.

• The poll, based on a national sample, has an error margin of plus or minus 3 percent.

Leading Sources of Stress

59% say money,   59% say work,   53% say health problems affecting parents or other family members,   50% say health concerns,   50% say nightly news or state of the world today, 48% say health of immediate family (spouse, partner or children),   41% say children.

75% Majority in International Poll Feels Stress Symptoms Daily

Stress is a global phenomenon, more than most people realize. When Associated Press-Ipsos took a polling, nearly 75% of people in the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, South Korea and Britain reported being stress-out on a daily basis.

Stress knows no borders. Financial pressure was chosen more frequently in the United States, Britain and Mexico. Job stress topped the list in Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, South Korea and Spain, which underlines the reality that stress is a common thread in modern life.

Americans Resort To Unhealthy Behaviors To Relieve Stress

In a survey conducted by the American Psychological Association (APA) has found that Americans resort to unhealthy behaviors such as comfort eating, poor diet choices, smoking and inactivity to help deal with stress. The survey results agree with research that shows 43 percent of all adults suffer adverse health effects from stress.

Women feeling stressed report feeling nervousness, wanting to cry, or lack of energy, while men report trouble sleeping or feeling irritable or angry. People experiencing stress report a number of specific ailments and symptoms:

59% report feeling nervous or sad,   51% report symptoms of fatigue,   56% report inability to

sleep or sleeping too much,   55% report lack of interest, motivation or energy,   46% report

headaches,   48% report muscular tension,   32% report frequent upset stomach or indigestion,  

37% report change in appetite,   29% report  feeling faint or dizzy,   26% report tightness in chest,

23% report change in sex drive.

Severe Mental Stress Effects

Medical Studies presented to the American Heart Association showed mental stress causes immediate blood pressure elevation, and sometimes, raises blood pressure as much as 20 points. Even though dangerous increases in blood pressure cause 3-to-6 times increased risk of heart attacks, most individuals have no feeling, or awareness this is occurring in their bodies.

Sources: National Health Information on demand (http://content.nhiondemand.com) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Healthy People 2000 (www.healthypeople.gov) American Psychological Association
(http://apahelpcenter.org) Anxiety Disorders Association of America (www.adaa.org) United Nations Report

Print PDF Page for: Stress Statistics