2018’s Most & Least Stressed States

What tips do you have for fighting stress without spending money?

The easy answer to this is exercise, nutrition, and getting a consistently good night’s sleep. Going on a run or a hike doesn’t cost a penny, sleeping is still free, and you avoid spending money when you steer clear of unhealthy/junk food. For those less inclined to physical activity, I recommend that you find whatever makes you happy and engage in that activity, so long as it is healthy, and maybe even set aside 20-30 minutes each day for that activity. A third tip is to draw. If you spend just 15 minutes drawing, coloring, or doing anything creative, you can reduce your stress levels almost immediately.

What steps can people take to reduce stressing over finances?

Stress over finances aren’t always about finances. An important component that contributes to stress over money is how one communicates with one’s partner about finances. Having an open line of communication about money, instead of avoiding uncomfortable, yet critical, discussions about finances is vital to making sure both individuals are “on the same page” as they proactively, and jointly, address current and future money issues.

Should insurance companies cover treatments that help reduce stress?

I’ve long supported a “preventive” approach to addressing health issues, as opposed to a “responsive” one. Stress is the culprit for a whole host of physical and mental illnesses that crop up later in life as we age and our health deteriorates. The greater the stress of our current population, the more taxed the insurance companies and our society will be with a sick aging population in the future. Given stress is at the root cause for many future illnesses, prevention is a much better investment for the insurance companies’ long-term financial health, in addition to society’s overall well-being.

What tips do you have for parents trying to minimize their children’s stress levels?

Parents may need to be more mindful and self-aware of how they may be contributing to their child’s stress levels. Parents may be unknowingly and inadvertently placing an unnecessary amount of stress on their child by conveying expectations that may be just beyond the reach of the child. The child may be made to feel incompetent or inadequate when they can’t perform or meet their parent’s expectations. This in turn may lead the child to engage in behaviors and pursue activities for the sole purpose of pleasing the parent, or to gain the parent’s approval. With a little mindfulness, this very controllable source of stress is preventable.

What tips do you have for fighting stress without spending money?

To fight stress without spending money, use healthy, positive coping skills. Spending money is considered a negative coping skill because it potentially has long-term negative outcomes, such as debt or marital conflict. Positive coping strategies usually result in positive outcomes. One of the best positive coping strategies is exercise. Exercise does not have to be drudgery. We can make exercise fun and social. Dancing is a great fun and social exercise. Find a movement that you enjoy doing. Another great coping strategy is practicing mindfulness. Mindfulness doesn't require any special skill. All we have to do is bring our minds back to the present moment and focus on what is in front of us -- clouds, birds, sounds. When we have stress, we are usually focused on future events which may or may not happen. Bringing our minds back to the present throughout the day reduces stress and brings us peace.

What steps can people take to reduce stressing over finances?

To reduce stressing over finances, do some planning. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Taking time to make plans surrounding money can reduce our anxiety about money. A family life educator can teach you how to make a spending plan. A spending plan or a budget can help, but we may also need to work on our beliefs about spending with a counselor. It may be difficult to stick to a spending plan or to even make one because of our beliefs about money. Counselors can help us explore and correct those beliefs to reduce stress over finances.

Should insurance companies cover treatments that help reduce stress?

Insurance companies should cover all kinds of health -- physical and mental. Mental health counseling can reduce stress. There is a relationship between mental health and physical health. Poor mental health leads to poor physical health, thus insurance companies paying for mental health services can save the companies money since costs of physical health coverage will be reduced.

What tips do you have for parents trying to minimize their children’s stress levels?

Parents can help minimize their children's stress levels by first reducing their own stress levels. Children do as their parents do. When parents see counselors to reduce their own stress, they can then teach their children how to minimize stress by example. In addition, when parents allow their children to be who they are rather than trying to make their children into who parents want them to be, children's stress levels will be reduced. Family life educators can teach parenting skills that will help parents socialize their children without causing undue stress. Counselors can help parents explore their own childhoods to determine how their childhoods are influencing their parenting practices.

What tips do you have for fighting stress without spending money?

Work on getting a good night’s sleep, eating healthy (carefully reading food labels), and getting regular exercise (walking, for example).

What steps can people take to reduce stressing over finances?

This is a little more complicated. Seeking consultation with a financial planner or money manager, or cognitive-behavioral therapy for stress management, would be recommended.

Should insurance companies cover treatments that help reduce stress?

Yes. Stress ultimately leads to more health problems, so insurance companies would find covering treatments for stress quite an investment in the long run.

What tips do you have for parents trying to minimize their children’s stress levels?

Try to catch your kid doing something right, rather than catching them messing up. And reward (with praise, positive attention, and sometimes, with materials things) the heck out of their good behavior to show them how you want them to act. A little stress is fine, so don’t try to make all stress or anxiety go away. Stress is a natural response to change and adversity and it’s important for kids to learn that they can manage stress. Many parents try to swoop in and keep their kids from experiencing any stress at all -- this is a mistake, because the kids never learn how to manage normal stress.

What tips do you have for fighting stress without spending money?

There are many angles on both the roots of stress and how to manage it, and I would hesitate to say there is a one-size-fits-all solution; however, one approach with a compelling history and increasing research support is mindfulness, which does not in itself cost any money (though many classes for cultivating mindfulness do come with a fee). In essence, this perspective recognizes that much of what we experience as "stress" is not really about our life experiences themselves, but rather about the internal resistance or struggle we bring to those experiences.

A commonly used metaphor involves two arrows: the first arrow is the pain of a difficult physical or psychological experience, and the second (more damaging) arrow is the suffering that comes from adding judgments like "This shouldn't be here/I can't deal with this." By cultivating an attitude of greater acceptance -- which does not mean passive resignation, but rather an active embrace of things as they are and our own capacity to work with those conditions -- we can significantly reduce stress in our lives.

Should insurance companies cover treatments that help reduce stress?

I would certainly advocate for insurance coverage of programs -- whether mindfulness-based or otherwise -- that help people manage stress, given that stress-related health conditions are a major source of disease burden in this country (and, indeed, worldwide).

What tips do you have for parents trying to minimize their children’s stress levels?

Based on both my own and others' research, one of the main things parents can do to support their children's capacity to manage stress is to effectively manage their own stress. We have shown that exposure to parental stress/distress predicts children's difficulties regulating their responses to stress at both physiological and behavioral levels, and work involving foster or adoptive parents suggests this is not simply due to shared genetic tendencies. Therefore, the call to work on cultivating a healthier response to the inevitable stresses of life is not just about helping individuals, but also the next generation.

What tips do you have for fighting stress without spending money?

Stress is a universal experience, everyone experiences it, it’s normal and has been viewed as a necessary part of life; it’s any noticeable change that occurs in our life that sends a signal that something it’s quite right -- you may feel anxious, irritable, moody, overwhelmed; how one responds to stress is unique to the person who experiences it. There are numerous strategies that can be used to combat stress -- which involves connecting with supportive people in your life. Having someone to talk with and be affirmed can reduce anxiety, create sense of calm, promote psychological well-being, and help individuals respond better to stress.

What steps can people take to reduce stressing over finances?

Interestingly, sometimes individuals may attempt to manage stress by engaging in unhealthy coping behaviors, which may involve engaging in impulsive purchases as a stress reduction strategy. This can lead to financial stress -- the majority of Americans are experiencing stress related to finances. Worrying about not being able to make ends meet can lead to other problems, such as increase conflict in families, causing relationship problems, and has been associated with elevated depression, trouble sleeping, weight gain, weight loss, creating a cyclic effect in that as one becomes more stressed, more unhealthy coping behaviors are relied on to manage stress, in this instance impulsive buying.

This can add to one’s stress load, creating what research studies refer to as stressor pileup. To break the cycle, the first step is to recognize that there is a problem, then, proceed with getting a handle on where the overspending is occurring, a general rule of thumb is to have a budget, and use that as a road map to keep track of spending, balancing what comes in – income -- with what goes out -- expenditures. I encourage individuals to seek advance from financial counselors, which may be a resource available at one’s place of work or in communities where they live; and there are some reliable sites on the Internet that can be useful.

Should insurance companies cover treatments that help reduce stress?

Yes, there is a long-standing body of research documenting the importance of mental health well-being in averting numerous chronic health problems. It takes a healthy mind to have a healthy body, which suggests the necessity to embrace the need to treat the whole person, addressing biological, psychological, social, and emotional issues that affect the body and mind. Further, I borrow from an excellent quote by a physician as a reminder of the need to treat the whole person, and I paraphrase: "We (insurance companies) are not doctors (companies) for particular diseases or particular organs or particular stages in the life cycle – (they should be) we are doctors (health care agencies) for people (to whole person) (J. Toward a Definition of Holism, British Journal of General Practice, February 2005).

What tips do you have for parents trying to minimize their children’s stress levels?

Encourage and provide an environment where children are comfortable asking questions or talking about issues/problems that concern them. Strong, healthy family relationships are highly correlated with effective stress management, which improves both mental and physical health. When children are nested in strong social circles, they fare well in all domains of life. Vanderbilt University has recently launched a Mental Health and Well-Being Campaign to foster a culture of health on campus. One of the slogans framing this campus wide initiative is GO THERE, which means bring up crucial conversations that children may be exposed to and create opportunities or teachable moments for them to talk about those issues; and when they do, be there to support and comfort them.

What tips do you have for fighting stress without spending money?

There are several techniques for managing stress without spending money. The majority of us already practice stress management, for example, by listening to music, exercising, going for a walk, meditating, being in nature, engaging in a hobby such as gardening, or by spending time with your pets and loved ones. Unfortunately, during periods of stress, we often forget techniques that have worked well for us in the past or do not use them because we feel pressured for time. It is important to pause and hit the reset button to prevent the negative effects of stress. Scientific work has demonstrated associations between stress and unhealthy eating, substance use, depression, anxiety, obesity and hypertension.

To take a proactive approach to managing stress, one might first increase their awareness of their stress response by gathering information on oneself, similar to a researcher. This can be done by simply monitoring your thoughts, feelings and actions when stressed, as well as stress triggers (i.e., situations in which you are most likely to be stressed, such as preparing for an exam or being in traffic). You can accomplish this task by taking notes on paper or writing in a journal, and by using free apps (e.g., T2 Mood Tracker) that track your mood and stress. Relaxation techniques, such as diaphragmatic breathing (as known as deep breathing), guided imagery, progressive muscle relaxation and mindfulness have been established in research as beneficial for stress management.

The fall issue of the newsletter for the Society for Health Psychology, The Health Psychologist, also recommends free apps such as Calm and Headspace, as well as websites such as UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center: Free Guided Meditations and 10% Happier. There are also several free videos on YouTube that can be useful for stress management. It is important to acknowledge that we cannot always anticipate stress and certain strategies that have worked well for us in the past may not be useful at another time. Hence, we should develop a toolbox of coping strategies for managing stress -- that way, when your first-line strategy does not work, you can try another.

What steps can people take to reduce stressing over finances?

Financial stress can be burdensome and produces a sense of loss of control. Creating a plan can help alleviate some of the stress over finances and facilitate problem-solving. One might start off by first identifying their top financial stressor(s) and conduct an analysis of their expenses. This might help identify surplus spending and create structure for your financial plan. Setting up both short- and long-term goals will be valuable for your action plan -- I recommended writing down your goals to serve as a reminder.

Short-term goals can be weekly, for example, you may choose to reduce your spending by limiting the frequency of eating out at restaurants from three times a week to once. These goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely (SMART), as this will improve your ability to break down your tasks and focus. It is much easier to achieve a weekly SMART goal(s) than an ambiguous and overwhelming one (e.g., to get out of debt). Successful completion of these weekly goals will not only help reduce stress over finances, but result in incremental steps that help you make progress towards a long-term goal. It may also be beneficial to seek help from your social network, especially if you have a relative or friend who is financially savvy. Alternatively, you can seek professional help and counseling to help manage finances.

Should insurance companies cover treatments that help reduce stress?

The U.S. spends several trillion dollars on health care, in part due to limited access to health care and lack of insurance coverage, which results in high hospital costs on emergency care and treating chronic illnesses. Investment in evidence-based preventive care has the potential to reduce health care expenditure, as demonstrated by Maciosek and colleagues in a 2010 study published in Health Affairs.

There is a lot of scientific evidence indicating the usefulness of relaxation techniques, such as mindfulness, diaphragmatic breathing and progressive muscle relaxation for reducing stress and stress-related physical and psychological conditions. From a cost-effectiveness perspective, it may be cheaper for insurance companies to cover the cost of evidence-based preventive care for stress management than to cover the cost of more serious conditions that result from chronic stress. Furthermore, stress can exacerbate many health conditions, worsening a patient’s health, which in turn increases the number of medical procedures and treatments needed to manage care.

What tips do you have for parents trying to minimize their children’s stress levels?

The early years are essential as they provide a template for the development of adaptive behaviors. Parents can lead by example by modelling good stress management behaviors. Children are more likely to mimic the behaviors of their caregivers than to listen to advice about stress management. A parent who engages in maladaptive coping behaviors, such as eating unhealthy foods when stressed and drinking excessively, sends a message to their children that this is the way to cope with stress. Instead, parents can encourage good stress management skills by, for example, having family nature walks, exercising, and by educating and engaging their children in relaxation techniques such as deep breathing and mindfulness meditation. This teaches children that although stress and its associated negative emotions such as worry, sadness and anger is normal, they can use stress management techniques to cope with these emotions.

What tips do you have for fighting stress without spending money?

There is a fundamental factor that protects individuals and families from all manner of stressors, and it involves the relationships we have with others. Some call this our social network. Even as relationships can cause us various concerns, it is our relationships with others that often lifts us from becoming discouraged and feeling hopeless. In fact, it is often these relationships with others, which could be family members, friends, work associates, and neighbors, that help us to feel hopeful.

And exactly how do relationships function? Over the years, I have referred to the work of Iowa State sociologists Carolyn Cutrona and Dan Russell, who have identified exactly what it is that relationships do for us. These functions are: feelings of intimacy and security, sense of belonging to a group of others, being able to count on others, having relationships that provide knowledge and expertise, gaining confidence and esteem, and responsibility for the care of others. Our research has demonstrated that having these kinds of relationships translate to our well-being and contribute to our abilities to deal with adversity of all kinds, including those related to finances.

Having strong and positive relationships give that sense of being connected to others, and through these connections we gain practical advice and psychological support. Consequently, developing and maintaining these relationships plays into managing stress. In my recent book, “Family Stress Management,” with my family science colleagues Pauline Boss and Chalandra Bryant (P. Boss, C. Bryant, & J. Mancini, Sage Publishers, 2017) we discuss at length the dimensions of stress, and how a stressor can be managed in productive ways and that prevent a crisis from occurring. Among the pivotal resources we discuss are these social relationships.

What steps can people take to reduce stressing over finances?

I will share my personal take on the business on finances, expenditures, and stress. I have told my adult children, and actually anyone else who will listen, that at the end of the day, the equation of financial well-being is determined far more by what we spend than by what we make through our jobs. I was once asked if I worried about money, and when I answered “no,” the person replied that is likely because of having a high salary. I answered that I did not worry because what I spent was well-managed. So, the business of stressing over finances begins with our spending habits.

Now to bring this back to the matter of what causes stress and which sorts of stress are less manageable, consider these points. First, sometimes our stress directly stems from poor decisions that we make, and this creates a very different scenario than, for example, having financial stress because of societal economic conditions or a factory closing. It is different because we must ultimately “own” a situation of our own making.

Second, clearly not all financial stress is created equally. Centers for Disease Control psychologists Middlebrooks and Audage have discussed positive, tolerable, and toxic stress, with the first type likely being a good motivator for action, the second type not so easy to manage but nevertheless likely to be dealt with effectively, and the third type being exceedingly difficult to deal with and likely with long-term consequences. How an individual or family got into financial difficulty, their previous experience and success with dealing with problems, and how they view their current situation, all matter for ultimately how stress emerges and whether a crisis occurs.

What tips do you have for parents trying to minimize their children’s stress levels?

First, let’s not forget that parents are the gateways to the many experiences that children have, including adolescent children. Consequently, parents have a responsibility to be mindful of what their children are exposed to. I mention this because at times, parents believe they have little say in what their children experience, especially as children get older. They may have less say, but they still have considerable say and control. Second, and perhaps most important is this. At the end of the day, my advice to parents is to remain available to their children, even when times are the worst, either in the parents’ lives or in a child’s life. That is, being present in their children’s lives, being accessible to them, and not rejecting them even when it is tempting (and many a parent of an adolescent has been there).

We all need a “go-to” person or persons, people who have our backs and who we fully trust. Our children, whether young, adolescents, young adults, or even adults, need the same sense of support -- even when they have made us angry and disrespected. I recently wrote a paper with my University of Georgia family science colleagues, Catherine O’Neal, Evin Richardson, and Neila Grimsley, on tolerable stress and mental health. We found that the early life stressful experiences of parents not only influenced their mental health as adults, but also influenced the mental health of their adolescent children. Which brings me to a third point, that parents must deal with their own issues, because ultimately, their children are affected. While I don’t suggest that parents are solely responsible for their children’s stress levels, especially as children age and have to deal with, for example, peer group and school demands, parent’s own issues do bleed into the lives of others in the family.