By Renée Onque —
CNBC
More than a quarter of American adults say they are so stressed most of the time that it is difficult to function, according to the
Stress in America survey.
of the American Psychological Association.
Although some stress is normal — and can actually be good for your health — once it reaches a chronic level it can cause health problems such as insomnia, anxiety, high blood pressure and a weakened immune system, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
And residents of some states seem to be more stressed than others.
Komowa, a company that sells wellness, has compiled a ranking of the most and least stressed states in the United States.
The list was compiled based on 16 key stress indicators, such as work hours, credit card debt, divorce rates, commute times, among others.
The key indicators were grouped by similarities and fell into four categories:
Economic stress.
Work stress.
Stress due to health problems.
Family stress.
To compile the list, Komowa used data from the CDC, the US Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, among other agencies.
Surprisingly,
New York and California do not appear in the top 10
of the list, after ranking 24th and 25th, respectively.
States were also ranked by individual categories, such as having the most credit card debt and the longest commute time.
New York
ranked first for longest commute time, with an average of 33.2 minutes, but fell short of first place for most hours worked.
Louisianans
appear to work the most, averaging 44.3 hours per week
.
Alaska
ranked first for the most credit card debt, with an average of $7,338, and
Wisconsin
had the lowest, with an average of $4,808.
Tennessee, the state where people live with the most stress
At the top of the list of the most stressed states in the country is Tennessee, according to Komowa.
Tennessee scored very highly for highest health stress, ranking third for highest prevalence of depression (24.4%).
15.5% of residents also stated that “their physical health is not good for more than 14 days a month.”
Aerial image of downtown Nashville, Tennessee.Dan Reynolds Photography/Getty Images
Tennessee residents also work harder than the American average, ranking third in hours worked,
with an average of 42.3 hours per week.
Tennessee also scored fairly low when it came to residents' annual income and the ability to work from home.
Residents also had one of the longest average commutes.
The 10 states with the most stress
1. Tennessee
2. Alabama
3. Oklahoma
4.Louisiana
5. Snowfall
6. South Carolina
7. Georgia
8. Arizona
9. West Virginia
10. Indiana
Alabama came in second, largely due to work and health stress.
Residents there work longer hours than most Americans, earn much less, and have
one of the highest divorce rates
.
In third place was Oklahoma, ranking first in health stress, which can be directly related to the percentage of uninsured residents there.
The prevalence level of depression is also high among its inhabitants.