世論 What Japan Thinks

If I’d translated this one yesterday I could have been all nice and happy and bright, but since it’s today, you’ll have to accept my translation of MyVoice’s look at stress – their third look, and I translated their second stress survey here – being done under pressure.

Demographics

Over the first five days of June 2009 14,878 members of the MyVoice internet community completed a private online questionnaire. 54% of the sample were female, 2% in their teens, 14% in their twenties, 37% in their thirties, 29% in their forties, and 18% aged fifty or older.

Ahh, work decided today to change the information security rules; it’s not quite RFID tagging everything and setting up automated machine-gun nests at the exits to discipline offenders, but it’s getting there. The main cause of concern seems to be memory cards getting lost; the sensible measure would be to turn on an option in the system management software that everyone has that automatically encrypts all writes to memory cards, but instead we just get excessively-strict tracking of cards, which ignores the fact that the losses happened due to people ignoring the simpler rules. They are also suggesting that there might be a new rule that effectively makes taking a mobile phone or audio player to work impractical. Idiots.

Then on the way out of the office, one guy stopped walking right in front of me just outside the gate, I moved round and almost got run over by a cyclist, then the communist party were making a racket outside the station. I swore at the guy who tried to give me a leaflet, which did make me feel a little better.

Research results

Q1: About how stressed do you feel on a daily basis? (Sample size=14,878)

	This time June 2009	Last time March 2008
Totally stressed out	24.3%	24.4%
A bit stressed	51.6%	53.9%
Not very stressed	19.8%	18.0%
Not stressed at all	4.3%	4.7%

Q2: What sorts of things make you feel stress? (Sample size=14,878, multiple answer)

Work-related, school-related inter-personal relationships	47.2%
Money	38.0%
Relationship with family, children; home environment	31.0%
Can’t do what I want to do	26.2%
Details of work, study	25.6%
Own health situation	21.5%
Cooking, washing, cleaning, other daily housework	18.3%
Getting along with the relatives	16.0%
Child-rearing	14.3%
Relationships with neighbours	11.4%
Relationships with friends	11.0%
Change in work environment	8.3%
Commuting to work, school	7.4%
Politics, economy	7.4%
Relationships with opposite sec	6.6%
Nursing care	3.1%
Exams (self, children, etc)	2.9%
Other	6.5%
Nothing in particular	5.7%
No answer	0.2%

Q3: What symptoms do you display when you feel stress? (Sample size=14,878, multiple answer)

Get irritated easily	63.2%
Get up and go has got up and gone	34.5%
Stomach, bowel problems	29.5%
Can’t sleep, shallow sleep	25.2%
Can’t concentrate, can’t hold attention	23.4%
Emotional instability	21.9%
Back pain, stiff shoulders	18.1%
Headache, dizziness	16.6%
Can’t get up, don’t feel refreshed after sleep	12.8%
Skin roughness	10.2%
Breathing problems, heart pain	7.6%
Irregular periods, PMS	6.3%
Nausea	6.0%
Skin allergies	5.7%
Ringing, other hearing problems	4.4%
Losing hair	3.6%
Cold extremities	3.2%
Trembling	2.0%
Hot flushes	2.0%
Other	4.0%
None in particular	11.8%
No answer	0.2%

Q4: Which one symptom from Q3 are you most concerned about? (Sample size=those who get symptoms from stress)

Get irritated easily	35.7%
Stomach, bowel problems	13.8%
Get up and go has got up and gone	9.0%
Can’t sleep, shallow sleep	8.4%
Back pain, stiff shoulders	5.2%
Emotional instability	4.6%
Headache, dizziness	4.4%
Can’t concentrate, can’t hold attention	3.7%
Skin allergies	2.0%
Can’t get up, don’t feel refreshed after sleep	1.9%
Breathing problems, heart pain	1.7%
Skin roughness	1.7%
Irregular periods, PMS	1.0%
Losing hair	0.9%
Ringing, other hearing problems	0.9%
Nausea	0.6%
Trembling	0.3%
Cold extremities	0.2%
Hot flushes	0.2%
Other	1.6%
None in particular	1.9%
No answer	0.2%

Q5: About how often do you consult with a medical professional regarding the symptom from Q4? (Sample size=those who have a particular symptom they are concerned about from stress)

Always use	2.9%
Often use	3.6%
Sometimes use	13.7%
Never use	78.8%
No answer	0.9%

Q6: How do you cope with stress? (Sample size=14,878, multiple answer)

Get lots of sleep, naps	26.1%
Make time to be by myself	25.4%
Eat something nice, that I like	25.1%
Talk with friends	21.7%
Talk with family	20.1%
Drink alcohol	19.2%
Go shopping, window shopping	17.5%
Watch a movie, drama	16.5%
Take a bath, shower	14.1%
Read a book	13.5%
Do exercise, play sports	12.3%
Play electronic game	12.2%
Take medicine	11.3%
Smoke	10.4%
Take a walk	10.0%
Go on a trip	8.9%
Get close to nature, animals	8.8%
Play with pet	8.3%
Go to hospital	7.5%
Go for a massage, esthetics	6.9%
Shout out loud at karaoke, etc	6.9%
Spend some quality time with family	6.2%
Go for a drive	6.1%
Post to internet bulletin board, blog, etc	5.5%
Vent on someone	4.7%
Gamble at pachinko, horses, etc	4.2%
Talk with someone at work, school	4.2%
Immerse myself in work	2.4%
Go to barber, hair salon	2.4%
Get counselling	1.6%
Other	4.4%
Don’t do anything in particular	14.2%
No answer	0.4%