Gallup: Americans are among the world's 'most stressed' people

April 26 (UPI) -- Americans are among the most overstressed people in the world -- with 55 percent experiencing a "lot" of strain during an average day, new research shows.

Gallup said in a survey Thursday nearly a quarter of Americans said they also feel angry a lot, in a portion of the study that found the angriest countries are Armenia, Iraq, Iran, the Palestinian territories, Morocco and Turkey.

The survey said Greece has been the stress leader (59 percent) since 2012. The figures show lower income Americans tend to be more stressed and carry more of an economic burden than wealthy populations. There was also a strong correlation between stress, worry and disapproval of President Donald Trump, the report found.

When it comes to worry, several African and Middle Eastern nations scored highest.

The data matches or sets new records since Gallup started taking the survey, pollsters said.

In its analysis, Gallup said it found a disconnect between strong economies and negative emotions.

"The world took a negative turn in 2017, with global stress, worry, sadness and pain hitting new highs," the report said. "During a solid year of economic growth, the U.S. kept this negative trend going into 2018. Higher levels of stress, anger and worry nudged Americans' overall Negative Experience Index to 35 -- three points higher than any previous score to date."

The levels are even higher now than they were during the U.S. recession a decade ago.

"Given the ties that researchers are starting to find between negative affects like these and physical health and longevity, leaders need the whole story," the report said.