If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere – but you better stock up on the antacid. New Yorkers are the most stressed out in the country because of the sorry state of the economy, a new survey out yesterday shows.Seventy-five percent of Gothamites polled said economic worries are causing them stress – which is 10% higher than the rest of the country.
“There’s no money. It’s hard to find a job. It’s not like it used to be,” said Ramon Velez, 56, a window fitter from Hell’s Kitchen, explaining what keeps him up at night.
The study by the American Psychological Association also found that New Yorkers are more stressed than most Americans over health issues, housing costs and personal safety.
While stress in the city has gone down overall since 2008 when the economy collapsed, large numbers of people continue to say they are feeling overwhelmed.
“People are saying their stress levels are too high,” said Dr. Norman Anderson, the association’s CEO. “And stress is associated with a number of health problems.”
Even those who are working – the unemployment rate in the city is a bit lower than the rest of the country – say they are toiling even harder to make ends meet, which causes its own type of heartburn.
“We work 12, 14, 18 hours and we don’t bounce back,” said Sergei Romanishen, a 44-year-old actor from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. “Then you’re stressed.”
The survey found that 1 in 5 New Yorkers cited a lack of time to effectively deal with his or her stress.
And 64 % of the 212 city residents who responded said they were dissatisfied with their jobs – also 10 % higher than the rest of the country.
One area where New Yorkers are faring better than other Americans is in coping with stress.
City dwellers outrank most suburban and rural couch potatoes 62% to 48% in reporting that they exercise regularly – a known stress reliever.
There is still a wide gap between those who say they need to do more to relax (68%) and those who actually manage to do something about it (36%).
“There’s a real disconnect here,” Anderson said. “What they’re telling us is they didn’t have the will power.”
Exercise buffs aside, 44% said they coped with stress by sometimes scarfing down unhealthy food while another 44% say they sometimes lay awake at night worrying.
{NY Daily News/Matzav.com}
