evolutionary cross training

How many of you feel like you are economically worse off now, than you were in 2006? How many have family members or neighbors or friends who are economically worse than they were, five years ago? How many feel like you have more stress in your life now, than you did in 2006?

If you are feeling stressed, you have a lot of company. According to the most recent “Stress in America” survey, published by the American Psychological Association just a couple months ago), a majority of adults in the U.S. live with moderate or high levels of stress; and 44% of those surveyed report that their stress levels have increased over the last five years.

Stress is not just an adult phenomenon: the APA report indicates that nearly a third of children experienced stress-related health symptoms like trouble falling or staying asleep, headaches or upset stomachs in the month prior to the survey.

And in the annual UCLA survey of first-year undergraduate students, a bare majority report that they have good mental health. 51% of new students report good or above-average emotional health, which is the lowest number since they began asking the question, in 1985. This survey indicates that anxiety has replaced depression as the leading manifestation of dis-ease in students.

To paraphrase Jerry Lee Lewis, there’s a whole lotta stressin’ going on.

Read the rest of this sermon--how evolutionary cross-training can reduce our stress--at So May We Be.