New England Is The Most Anxious Region in the U.S. — And We’re Here To Help

Earlier this month, New York Times Contributor Seth Stephens-Davidowitz analyzed data collected from Google searches and found that, based on data from of all the states in the U.S., New England appears to be by far the most anxious region in the country. Five out of the six New England states Googled search terms related to anxiety (things like “anxiety help,” “anxiety symptoms” and “panic attack”) at least 10% more than the national average. The one outlier? Connecticut. It’s somewhere between 5-10% above the national average. Surprisingly enough, the state we call “Vacationland” is the most anxious of all. Mainers searched the Internet about anxiety 21% more than the national average. That’s a far cry from the other Portland — Oregon appears to be the most calm. Its residents searched about anxiety 26% less than the national average.

So what are we New Englanders so nervous about?

Let’s be honest. As a region, we’re kind of on the neurotic side. (I’ll attribute that to our obsession with sweet Dunkin’ caffeine coffee.) While the rest of the country lives their lives at the pace of Boston traffic, we’re sitting in Boston traffic. Our city names are intentionally hard to pronounce. We drink Moxie for fun. We’ve basically got a monopoly on the Ivy Leagues, just in case you felt like you were doing alright in school. And of course, the ever-looming prospect of New England winters is enough make anyone want to strap on their snowshoes and head south. (Just in case you haven’t worried about the winter in a while, here’s The Old Farmer’s Almanac’s weather predictions for this winter. Might be time to invest in some more New England heating methods.) Regardless of what’s got New England feeling more anxious than the rest of the country, we think there’s enough regional pride here to counteract any anxious stigma. Need some anxiety relief? We think these photos will help do the trick.

Now, don’t you feel better already? New England, most anxious region or not, is a beautiful place. Remember that next time the Greenheads attack. What do you think about the new finding that New England is the most anxious region in the U.S.?

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