Utah rated most stressed

[_zeezrom]

http://www.mainstreet.com/article/famil ... ssed-state


Yes, another one of these articles...

Blixa, we need you here!

[_Buffalo]

http://www.mainstreet.com/article/family/family-health/utah-most-stressed-state


Yes, another one of these articles...

Blixa, we need you here!

Mormonism is bad for you.

[_Joseph]

If BYU football were a real top 10 program and winning this would not be a problem.

[_just me]

Huh. Don't they also rank themselves as the happiest?

Stress=happiness

:P

[_TrashcanMan79]

Stress levels in Utah just indicate those citizens have a more meaningful existence than the rest of us.

Does Stress Validate Our Existence?

Isn't it wonderful? Isn't it marvelous?

[_Blixa]

http://www.mainstreet.com/article/family/family-health/utah-most-stressed-state


Yes, another one of these articles...

Blixa, we need you here!

The spirit is willing, Zeez, but things are tight financially. I have to hold on for a few more years, probably, in order to get a decent chunk of my retirement. Unless I can get another full time job in Utah (which may be possible). Ideally, though, I would like to only teach part time so I can write and do the other things that make life worth living for me.

[_harmony]

The spirit is willing, Zeez, but things are tight financially. I have to hold on for a few more years, probably, in order to get a decent chunk of my retirement. Unless I can get another full time job in Utah (which may be possible). Ideally, though, I would like to only teach part time so I can write and do the other things that make life worth living for me.

I don't think Utah food is quite on the same level as food where you are, Blixa. Fry sauce just doesn't seem to be in the same level at all.

[_onandagus]

Following the link from the article to the site for the study this comes from--Gallup Healthways--one finds on the very first page encountered that Utah ranks in the top 10 among the 50 states in percentage of residents who are "thriving" and percentage of residents who are optimistic about the future: http://www.gallup.com/poll/146885/Posit ... tates.aspx

Two clicks away one learns that Utah is also in the top 10 in the nation in "overall well-being":

http://www.gallup.com/poll/125066/State-States.aspx


Actually, this is an off year for Utah, which in the previous two years has vied with Hawaii for the state with the greatest overall well-being:

http://www.gallup.com/poll/125849/hawai ... -best.aspx

http://www.gallup.com/poll/122264/well- ... ation.aspx

Regarding stress, Gallup studies show that happiness levels and reported stress are not always inversely related: http://www.gallup.com/poll/122420/stres ... lated.aspx. And Utah, though one of the more stressed states even a couple years ago, has climbed in stress in the last couple years, likely for the same reasons driving its drop in overall well-being (from 2nd out of 50 to an abysmal 9th out of 50) whatever those may be. One can only assume that the state was very secular two years ago and has somehow in the meantime defied its longstanding secularism to become deplorably Mormon...?

The Gallup Healthways article about this year's stress data further describes the complex relationship of stress to other outcomes, twice mentioning that Utah's positive outcomes in other areas contrast with its reported stress:

"The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index state data underscore that stress is a complex emotion that is likely related to numerous life issues. States where residents have higher levels of stress differ from each other on various fronts: Some have more high-income residents, while others have more low-income residents. Some, like Utah and Massachusetts, have residents who boast great physical health, while others, like Kentucky and West Virginia, have residents who are in poor health. And in some of the high-stress states residents rate their lives highly -- as in Connecticut, Utah, and Massachusetts -- while in others, residents rate their lives at the lowest end of the scale, as in Ohio and Rhode Island."
http://www.gallup.com/poll/147767/hawai ... -utah.aspx

The fact is that data showing Utahns as having a high quality of life on nearly every measure have been around a long time and come from a variety of sources.

Take, as just one example--but an impressive one, the recent book by European social scientists The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger ( http://www.amazon.com/Spirit-Level-Equa ... 1608190366 ). The book, which is not about Utah but about the beneficial effects of socioeconomic equality, presents data for the fifty states correlating socioeconomic equality with a wide range of social goods. Utah--which ranks highest in socioeconomic equality among the fifty states--also ranks near the top in every socially desirable outcome, including crime rates, health, levels of trust within communities, etc., etc.

Of course, none of this is to deny that Utah couldn't benefit from some counter-cultural eastern urban cats wandering in to join us in our state of bliss. ;)

Don

[_moksha]

You guys try smiling 24/7 and see if you don't feel stressed. We might even be subject to tendonitis from constantly raising our hands to the square.

[_zeezrom]

Blixa,

My FIL is in a position where he could pull some strings for us at BYU. We have a couple of challenges. First, I need to figure out a way to get on his good side again. Second, you need to want to be on BYU faculty. Once we get over those two seemingly impossible hurdles, you're in. :)

And just as Don alluded to, BYU would greatly benefit from your presence. The only down side is, BYU is too far away for Mr and Mrs Zee to attend your classes. :(