Americans are some of the most stressed people in the world, new Gallup poll finds
More than half of all Americans are very stressed out: poll
Gallup released its annual Global Emotions Reportthis week. The survey of 151,000 adults in more than 140 countries found that levels of stress, anger and worry spiked in the US during 2018.
Researchers ranked America as the seventh most-stressed country in the world — falling not far behind developing nations such as Tanzania and the Philippines, economically embattled Greece and war-torn Iran.
…About 55% of adults in the US said they’d felt stressed during “a lot of the day,” outranking the global average by 20%. Also, 45% said they’d felt worry, and another 22% had been angered recently.
Americans’ Stress, Worry and Anger Intensified in 2018 by Julie Ray
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Americans among the most stressed in the world
Nearly half (45%) felt worried a lot
More than one in five (22%) felt angry a lot
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Even as their economy roared, more Americans were stressed, angry and worried last year than they have been at most points during the past decade.
Asked about their feelings the previous day, the majority of Americans (55%) in 2018 said they had experienced stress during a lot of the day, nearly half (45%) said they felt worried a lot and more than one in five (22%) said they felt anger a lot.
Each of these figures matches or tops previous highs in the U.S. Additionally, Gallup’s latest annual update on the world’s emotional state shows Americans were more likely to be stressed and worried than much of the world.
In fact, the 55% of Americans who experienced stress was one of the highest rates out of the 143 countries studied and it beat the global average (35%) by a full 20 percentage points. The U.S. even ties statistically with Greece, which has led the world on this measure every year since 2012.
When it comes to worry, the six-point gap between the U.S. (45%) and the global average (39%) was not nearly as substantial as it was with stress.
The U.S. was also far from the top of the list of countries with the largest worried populations. In 29 countries, a majority of people said they worried a lot the previous day, including at least six in 10 in places such as Mozambique (63%), Chad (61%) and Benin (60%).
