Exit
that keep us up too late and get
us up too early, the result of work,
school or household responsibilities (“too much to do and too little time,” as one respondent said).
Sleep can become the most negotiable item on the to-do list.
Once in bed, respondents described difficulty in “turning off”
the brain — so the stress of the day
can lead to insomnia, which can
lead to more stress the next day
caused by lack of sleep. This effect was particularly bad for one
individual who explained, “I am on
medication which can cause insomnia so I’ve been worried about
not being able to sleep and have
thought about what I’ll do during
the day to catch up on my sleep if
I’m unable to sleep.”
The results of lack of sleep include more stress — acting as a
stress magnifier. “I was tired the
next day and unable to deal with
things, a little more cranky,” one
person wrote. Another said: “My
general level of stress and irritability is caused by too little sleep every night,” another said.
When people were asked whether they had done a number of specific things to deal with their stress
in the past month, the most common answers were “Talk to a friend
HUFFINGTON
05.19.13
STRESS
LESS
MOST
COMMON
WAYS
TO
DEAL
WITH
STRESS
Amount of recently stressed Americans* who said they
did this to deal with stress within the past month:
Exercised, Ate
46%
Took a nap or slept, Took some alone time, Listened to music
53%
Watched TV or a movie at home
54%
Breathed deeply
55%
Talked to friends / family
56%
*91% of Americans were recently stressed. Sample size: 950
or family member” (56 percent),
“Breathe deeply” (55 percent),
“Watch TV or a movie at home”
(54 percent) and “Take a nap or go
to sleep” (53 percent)
The good news is stress, respondents say, is not the only strain
of emotions they feel regularly.
While 77 percent of Americans
felt stressed regularly in the past
month, more reported feeling “Happy” (91 percent) and “Grateful” (89
percent) on a weekly or daily basis.
How these all exist together in
an American working day — how
we compartmentalize them, or not,
whether we use happiness and
gratitude to tamp down stress —
are questions to explore going forward. HuffPost invites readers to
use the comments to explore their
personal coping equations and to
suggest questions we might
ask in future surveys.