Health

Study: Most Americans Stressed Out By Economy

More Than 3/4 Of Men And Women Report Unhealthy Side Effects From Ongoing Financial Crisis

NEW YORK (CBS) ― With our national economy in crisis, what does this mean for our health?

Americans are so stressed out about our economic crisis, we're irritable, fatigued, and turning to unhealthy ways to cope.

"Stress is the number one reason why people get back to drinking and drugging and smoking," says Dr. Petros Levounis of the Addiction Institute of New York at Roosevelt Hospital.

The brunt of the country's financial woes seems to take a greater toll on women than men. New data from the American Psychological Association show 84 percent of women are stressed out about the economy, compared with 75 percent of men.

"I think it's reasonable because women have the unenviable task of balancing the budgets at home," says Manhattan resident Alfred Gottschalk.

Stress also impacts women more physically. According to the study, 56 percent of women reported headaches due to our tough economic times, compared with 36 percent of men.

"It's like how do I adjust my balance – you know, how do you keep a budget going when your visit to the dentist's costs you $500?" says Upper West Side resident Elaine Schneider.

Part of the problem is stress causes illness.

"We have obesity, we have insomnia, we have cardiovascular disease," says Levounis.

How we manage stress is also crucial. In times of crisis, unhealthy approaches may seem easier, but they're often harmful. The study reported 22 percent of men managed stress by drinking, while only 15 percent of women turned to alcohol.

"What we see much, much more frequently is that someone who may have had a problem with drinking, now with the economic downturn they go back to the bottle. And that is really a shame," says Levounis.

Levounis says there are some simple, cost-free ways to cope with stress.

"For some people it's meditation, for some people it's just simply doing nothing," he says.

Psychologists say the economic crisis creates a particularly worrisome type of stress because for most of us, it's something we just can't control. In that way it's similar to stress caused by fear of terrorism and of natural disasters like hurricanes and tornadoes.

So what do you do if you think addiction might be a problem?

Well, you've already done the most important step which is to identify the problem either in yourself or a loved one, so you need to get help fast.

The first call should be to your primary care physician who can direct you from that point, whether it's counseling or rehab.

Many local hospitals have crisis management centers that can also respond in times like these. 

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