Gary Tilkens is stressed.

“Right now it’s getting a job,” Tilkens, who will soon graduate from Kansas University, said Wednesday afternoon in downtown Lawrence. “I’m trying to figure out what I want to do with the next years of my life.”

He’s not alone.

The American Psychological Association this week published findings that stress levels have increased for 48 percent of Americans in the past five years – and that one-third of Americans are living with “extreme” stress.

The results? Health problems, relationship problems, work problems.

The cause? You name it.

The study offers a potentially mixed bag of results for Lawrence residents. On one hand, Midwestern residents seemed to have a lower level of stress than East and West Coast residents.

On the other hand, housing prices – a perennial complaint in Lawrence – was cited as one of the major causes of stress.

Other tidbits from the study:

¢ 35 percent said work interfered with family and personal time.

¢ 54 percent said stress causes them to fight with loved ones

¢ 8 percent said stress had caused them to divorce or separate from a spouse.

¢ 77 percent said stress had caused them physical symptoms of stress in the last month.

¢ 43 percent said they overeat to manage stress.

And once stress starts to build up, it can be a daunting task to recover from.

“I just feel like it all gets scattered in my head,” said Lauren Euston, a Lawrence cosmetologist. “I have to make a lot of lists in order to get things done and I try to eliminate unnecessary errands.”

Marcia Epstein, director of Headquarters Counseling Center in Lawrence, said there are some common types of behavior that might be indicators of stress. Some examples include feeling tense and irritable, having a short temper, or lacking focus and concentration.

“We’re just not quite ourselves when we feel very stressed,” Epstein said. “We just don’t do the things that help us sometimes and that can be bad.”

Epstein emphasized healthy decisions that might reduce or eliminate feelings of stress.

“You need to take care of yourself,” Epstein said. “Eat healthy, drink lots of water, exercise, minimize your caffeine use, and stick to a regular sleep schedule.”