Are you feeling stressed? Well, you aren’t alone. April is Stress Awareness Month and a survey by personal finance website Wallethub.com has ranked Louisiana as the nation’s most stressed state. The survey compares all 50 states across 41 key metrics and the numbers don’t look good says analyst Jill Gonzales.
“A lot of that comes down to money, work, and health,” she said. “That’s where Louisiana needs the most help. So, three out of the four major categories.”
Those four categories are work-related stress (3), money-related stress (2), family-related stress (7), and health and safety-related stress (2).
Louisiana ranks fifth-worst in hours worked, fourth in divorce rate and percentage of adults in poor health, second in people living in poverty, and no state has a higher overall crime rate. Affordable housing and job security are also big problems in the Bayou State.
“You know people are working a lot but they’re not getting paid as much,” Gonzales said. “So that obviously is stressful and that leads to a lot of problems at home that are money-related. Divorce and separation is also very rampant there.”
Only West Virginia had a lower ranking in health and safety-related stress. Compounding the issue for Louisianans is the tremendous lack of health and support services for people dealing with stress, said Gonzales.
“We’re seeing not a lot of people be able to get any type of health help, let alone mental health help,” she added. “So that’s one area, hopefully, that we see some change in very soon.”
And in case you’re wondering…the least stressed state? Utah. Go figure.
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