#Personal misery index highest it's been since last Bush

December 29, 2005

Not to mention the housing market is collapsing...

United States of Angst: Americans stressed, depressed, polls show

WASHINGTON (AFP) - New Year is supposed to be a time of hope and fresh

starts -- but more and more Americans seem to be stressed out,

miserable and depressed, according to two new opinion polls.

One long term survey shows that personal misery among Americans is at

its highest levels since the early 1990s, with people saddled with

woes over healthcare, unemployment, paying bills and romance.

The University of Chicago survey published Wednesday found people

reporting at least one significant " negative life event " jumped from

88 percent to 92 percent since 1991.

Eleven percent of 1,340 respondents reported being unable to afford

needed medical care, compared with seven percent in 1991, and 18

percent said they had no healthcare insurance coverage -- up from 12

percent in the early 1990s.

Some 15 percent of people surveyed said had been unemployed for a

month, four points higher than in 1991.

The survey, part of a broader study of American society conducted by

the university every two years, found that troubles were greatest

among those with low income, poor education levels and among unmarried

mothers.

Another snapshot of American life published this week suggests that as

2006 dawns, Americans are under more stress than a year ago.

Fifty-six percent of those surveyed said they had experienced more

stress in 2005 than in 2004 this year, as hurricanes ravaged the Gulf

Coast, fuel prices climbed and economic progress seemed not to filter

down to many Americans.

" When the power of love becomes stronger than the love of power, we will have

peace. "

Jimi Hendrix

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