Yes, We Really Are More Stressed

Feeling more stressed out than ever? Join the club. Stress levels have increased dramatically in recent years, a new study has concluded, jumping 24% for men and 18% for women between 1983 and 2009. The study examined previous surveys that looked at more than 6,300 people, USA Today reports. Though stress rose in almost every demographic, white, middle-aged college graduates with full-time jobs saw their rates increase almost twice as much as everyone else's.

But overall during that span, it was their polar opposites who were the most stressed: women, the poor, and the uneducated. The study also showed that stress decreases with age. "Thirty-year-olds have less stress than 20-year-olds, and 40-year-olds have less stress than 30-year-olds," says one researcher. (More stress stories.)