Stressed To Impress – Louisiana Ranks High On National Stress Index
Sometimes I look at surveys and I have to ask myself, "who did they talk to in order to come up with that for an answer"? Are you stressed? I am not talking about the day to day normal stress also known as life, but do you feel overly stressed? According to a national survey, you and I should be curled up in a corner in the fetal position muttering something about pancakes.
Wallethub.com recently released a survey on stress across these United States. Louisiana ranked as the second most stressed state in the union. How can that be? We have our joie de vivre and our unique way of life and we dance a lot too. That doesn't seem to be "stressed out" behavior to me.
According to the survey, a lot of "stress" we feel in Louisiana comes from money or lack thereof. I can certainly understand not feeling like you have enough to pay for what you need to pay for.
That also brings up a secondary problem of the inability to pay for health care, specifically mental health care. Since a lot of mental health issues are simply treated with the phrase "get over it" I can see how that problem would persist and become a stressor in our day to day lives.
Okay, I can't vouch for our mental stability especially after Mardi Gras but for the most part people I talk to every day, see every day, shop with every day, even drive next to every day seem to have their mind in the middle and are coping quite nicely.
We usually unwind with a cookout, barbecue, festival, or family gathering on the weekends. We also hunt, fish, dance, and drink too. Those activities seem to be relaxing. Some of them too relaxing. Is passing out considered to be stressful?
I just don't see how we rank behind Alabama as the second most, wait a minute. Behind Alabama? We don't like to be behind Alabama. Those are football fighting words! Alright, if we'd go to fisticuffs over a football game, maybe we are just a little stressed.