Psychiatrist Stephen Dwindle conducted a new study of the top 40 metropolitan areas within the U.S. and has determined the 5 most stressful cities. Based on the data, the most stressful city in America is Chicago, Illinois, followed by Los Angeles, New York City, Cleveland, and Providence. Inhabitants of these cities are finding that life isn’t as calm as it used to be.
A number of factors were taken into thought in the analysis. For one thing, quality of life factors were studied. Joblessness figures from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics were also considered. Researchers also used cost of living through figures from the Community and Economic Research Council besides population density, the number of sunny verses cloudy days, and air quality.
Based on these same factors, in a huge endorsement of the Lone Star State, San Antonio and Austin, Texas were ranked as the two least stressful of the 40 metropolitan areas incorporated in the study.
Researchers concluded that the cities ranked supreme in stressfulness were hit fiercely by the recession and heavy joblessness. Dropping home values and increasing foreclosures were also considered to have added greatly to stress levels in these cities. In San Francisco alone, the housing market has dropped 43 percent compared to a national median home price dip of 14.7 percent.
Participants in a National Sleep Foundation report, also considered in the study, said that they sleep less because of monetary woes. Not only are people sleeping less, but they are trying to reassess their lives and cut down on what are viewed as pointless expenses. Over 53 percent of persons surveyed by the Kaiser Family Foundation reported that they had cut down on health care costs by avoiding doctor visits, skipping checkups, and not refilling prescriptions.
The stress in these cities can sometimes be hard to bear because of the traffic, air pollution, not seeing the sun, rising unemployment, and declining home prices. There are many factors that make these cities stressful, but, when you’re dealing with these conditions and very expensive living costs, it can be difficult to stay afloat financially.
Most disturbing, researchers say, are the ill effects of such rampant, intense stress. Elevated stress levels are known to add to patients’ risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, depression, stomach cramping, insomnia, and irritability.
Even worse are the cumulative effects of high stress levels in an entire population. Historically, such collective stress levels have run parallel with crime waves, large-scale civil unrest, and pandemic family mistreatment. Given this trend, researchers propose that these cities take action to reduce population stress levels. City-sponsored exercise programs, time management programs, entertainment, arts programs, or noise reduction programs have been advocated.
This post was written by Diane Johnson. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Utah in Political Science. She specializes in writing about online schools, online education, politics, and the economy.
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