KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Feeling stressed? According to a new study, odds say you probably are.
It’s really no surprise. You’re a grown-up. You have a full-time job—or are looking for one--; a mortgage (or two); probably a family to look after. You wear uncomfortable shoes to work, because it’s what people do, and you worry about things like cholesterol and health care reform.
But have you ever asked your kids how well
they’re handling everything?
The new Annual Stress Survey from the American Psychological Association has some unexpected revelations.
“We were really kind of surprised,” says Dr. Katherine Nordal of the APA. According to their survey, children are more stressed than their parents realize.
How out-of-touch
are parents? In the survey, only three percent of them rated their children’s stress as ‘extreme,’ but almost a quarter of the kids did.
Moreover, 36% worried more this year than last. And 45% reported difficulty sleeping.
So what’s stressing those kids out so much? The APA doesn’t necessarily know; but if the other results of the survey are any indication, they say kids may be following their parents’ example.
More than 1,500 adults—89% of those surveyed—reported significant stress; Forty-two percent said they worry more than last year.
Money and work are still the biggest culprits for adult-stress, and this year two-thirds of the surveyed reported one or more chronic illnesses.
But may doctors say it’s not always the illness that causes the stress, but the other way around. (One need only consider high blood pressure and heart attacks as evidence of stress’s effect on the body.)
It’s a scary proposition, then, that our children may be just as stressed as we are. Will baby blood-pressure medication be a common sight in the near future? Will elementary education include yoga and relaxation techniques?
Hopefully not: Doctors recommend lowering your own stress with healthy activities and exercise, and setting a good example for your kids. Bring them along for a nice walk around the neighborhood. Ask them what’s on their mind.
Just don’t start talking to them about health care reform.
