Canadians are a stressed-out bunch, poll finds

Updated Wed. Dec. 20 2006 8:17 AM ET

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Contrary to perceptions that Canadians are a laid-back bunch who seldom experience the burdens of a stressful world, a new AP-Ipsos poll finds nothing is further from the truth.

Three of four Canadians who responded to the AP-Ipsos survey conducted in November reported they sometimes or frequently experience stress.

The figures show Canadians report about the same level of stress as their neighbours to the south.

In both Canada and the United States, six in 10 reported jobs and finances as the most stressful aspects of their lives.

About 76 per cent of Canadian respondents said they feel stress in their daily lives frequently or sometimes.

Canadians were most likely to name their jobs, at 32 per cent, or their finances, at 28 per cent, as the most important causes of that stress.

In the United States, finances were the most significant cause of stress, at 34 per cent, followed by jobs at 26 per cent.

Three-fourths of American respondents said they feel stress in their daily lives frequently or sometimes.

Dr. Mark Berber, an expert in depression, anxiety and stress at the University of Toronto, blames such stress levels on not getting enough sleep because of the rat race.

He told The Associated Press that a lack of public transportation in suburban Canada and the rising costs of living and mortgages in urban Canada are driving people into the suburbs.

Suburban Canadians, like their American neighbours, get out of bed ever earlier to commute to jobs in the city and face a return fight with traffic at the end of their day.

"Then they get home later, don't have time to spend with their children, and then get to bed later,'' he said.

The poll asked 1,000 respondents in each of nine countries -- Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Spain and the United States -- how often they felt that their lives were beyond their control.

One in 10 Canadians said they frequently felt their lives were beyond their control and one in four said they sometimes did.

Another University of Toronto scholar, stress expert Dr. Doug Saunders said the problem can be traced partly back to Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

"We realized for the first time how vulnerable our (shared) society could be,'' Saunders told the wire agency. "I think that in Canada, and particularly in Ontario, we realized that (again) with the SARS epidemic in 2003.''

That epidemic killed 44 people in Toronto and cost the city some $1 billion in lost tourism.

Another stress-provoking incident occurred in June when 18 men were arrested and charged with offences related to terror plots in southern Ontario.

That "just adds to the overall sense that people have to feeling vulnerable and uncertain," Saunders said.

Saunders said technology was also to blame for the job-related stress.

"The notion that technology was going to relieve us and allow us to live more relaxed lives and more leisurely lives . . . I think the impact of technology has been exactly the opposite,'' Saunders said.

The polls of about 1,000 adults in each of the countries were taken between Nov 13-26. Each poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Summary of international poll results:

• Australia: About 35 per cent of Australians name jobs as the main stress, followed by finances at 27 per cent and family life at 24 per cent. About 77 per cent said they feel stress in their daily lives frequently or sometimes.
• France: Nearly half, 45 per cent, said they sometimes or frequently felt their lives were beyond their control. They blame jobs and finances for being the main sources of stress, with 30 per cent choosing each.
• Germany: Germans were among the most stressed out with 51 per cent saying they frequently or sometimes feel stress. But they were among the least likely, at 28 per cent, to say their lives felt beyond their control.
• Italy: More than a third, 34 per cent, named their jobs as the leading cause of stress with 20 per cent fingering finances. Nearly three-fourths, or 73 per cent, said they feel stress frequently or sometimes in their daily lives.
• Mexico: Mexicans were less likely to feel stress on a daily basis, with only 45 per cent saying they feel that way frequently or sometimes. They were most likely to blame finances, at 38 per cent, for being the main source of that stress, followed by their jobs at 20 per cent.
• Spain: Spaniards were less likely than the people in several of their European counterparts with about 61 per cent saying they feel stress. The main cause of stress was their jobs, at 34 per cent.
• South Korea: South Koreans were the most stressed group among the countries polled, with 81 per cent saying they feel stress frequently or sometimes. Once again, jobs were the main cause of stress at 33 per cent, followed by finances at 28 per cent.
• United Kingdom: Among the countries polled, the British were most likely, at 51 per cent, to say their lives sometimes or frequently feel beyond their control. Finances, at 32 per cent, and jobs, at 26 per cent, were the most frequent causes of stress.

With files from The Associated Press