sleep – Memphis Flyer

Source: US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

On the tail of a rather stressful 2020, a report from RetailMeNot found that Memphis was the city with the most stressed-out citizens nationwide.

RetailMeNot found that nationwide, those in the Southeast scored the highest across the board in terms of stress. In Memphis, 17.9 percent of the population reported having poor mental health and 17.6 percent reported poor physical health, trumping the national average of 12.9 percent and 11.8 percent, respectively. Memphis also had an alarmingly high poverty rate that spiked at 21.7 percent, nearly double the national average of 12.3 percent.

Memphians were also found to have trouble sleeping and taking leisure time outside of work. 47.8 percent of Memphians reported sleeping less than seven hours a night, and 35.5 percent stated that they had no time for leisure. On the national scale, 36.2 percent of the population reported sleeping less than seven hours a night, and 23.6 percent stated that they had no time for leisure.

According to the report, chronic stress disturbs the immune, digestive, cardiovascular, sleep, and reproductive systems, and increases susceptibility to serious conditions like heart disease and diabetes. To score the various U.S. cities, researchers factored in mental and physical health, housing costs, poverty rates, and health insurance coverage to develop a unique stress score.

Though Memphis fared worse than others nationwide, the RetailMeNot report shows that the general level of stress across the nation was higher than average. While the report does not mention specific factors as the sole reason, it does state that complications stem from COVID-19, transitioning to work, and schooling.

To see where other states stack up, read the full report on RetailMeNot’s website.