Huh, Survey Says America Is Stressed

The American Psychological Association has been conducting an annual survey of stress in America for ten years, and in August that survey found that 52 percent of Americans thought the election was a very or somewhat significant source of stress. This finding inspired the APA to conduct a follow-up poll in January, in the two weeks leading up to the inauguration of adult-sized toddler President Donald Trump, who lets members of his private club snap pics with the guy guarding the nuclear codes, and whose campaign likely colluded with Russian intelligence officers (not stressful at all).

In an online survey, 1,109 American adults rated their stress levels as a 5.1 on a 10-point scale in January compared to 4.8 in August. It's the first statistically significant increase in stress levels since the survey was first conducted in 2007, a fact that should surprise exactly no one who's been on Facebook recently.

Fifty-seven percent of Americans said the political climate is a significant source of stress. It's affecting people no matter their political leanings, just to varying degrees: 76 percent of Democrats said the future of the nation was a significant source of stress, as did 59 percent of Republicans. That worked out to 66 percent of all respondents.

When looking at geographic location, 62 percent of people in urban areas said the election outcome was a very or somewhat significant source of stress, compared to 45 percent of suburbanites and 33 percent of people who live in rural areas.

People are more worried now than they were in August about acts of terrorism, police violence toward minorities, and their personal safety, and 80 percent of people say they have at least one health symptom because of stress compared to 71 percent in August. They include: headaches (34 percent), feeling overwhelmed (33 percent), feeling nervous or anxious (33 percent), and feeling depressed or sad (32 percent). Sad!