West Virginia's official motto proclaims that mountaineers are always free, but as it turns out, the nearly 2 million residents of the state are far from stress free.
According to the results of a recent Gallup poll, West Virginia topped the list of the five most worrisome states.
As part of the survey, Gallup asked 353.564 people across the US over the course of 2012 to answer the question: 'Did you feel stressed during a lot of the day yesterday?'
Stress index: Gallup asked 353.564 people across the US over the course of 2012 to answer the question: 'Did you feel stressed during a lot of the day yesterday?'
Over 47 per cent of West Virginians answered in the affirmative, followed by 46.3 per cent of Rhode Island residents and 44.8 per cent of those who call Kentucky home.
Utah and Massachusetts rounded out the top five with 44.6 and 43.4 per cent, respectively.
West Virginia, Kentucky and Utah have all made it onto the stress list for each of the last five years.
In 2008 and 2011 Kentucky occupied the No 1 position, and Utah was voted the most stressful state in 2009 and 2010.
Wild and wonderful: Nestled in the beautiful but hardscrabble Appalachian region, West Virginia once again ended up on the list of the five most stress-filled states in the nation
Track record: West Virginia has been on the list of the most stressful states since 2008
Worrisome: Massachusetts rounded out the top five most stressful states in the US in 2012
Nestled in the beautiful but hardscrabble Appalachian region, West Virginia describes itself as 'wild and wonderful.’ It also happens to have among the highest obesity rates in the nation.
On the other side of the stress spectrum, the stereotypically laid back residents of Hawaii have been the least stressed for each of the last five years, according to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index.
In the 2012 survey, the Pacific archipelago once again came in the last place in terms of stress level with 32.1 per cent, followed by Louisiana and Mississippi at 37.6 and 37.9 per cent, respectively.
Nationwide, 40.6 per cent of Americans reported feeling stressed ‘yesterday’ in 2012, similar to past years.
For all of the states, stress levels were statistically unchanged in 2012 compared with 2011.
Regionally, states with stress levels at or above 42 per cent were clustered in the Northeast and Midwest, but also included Utah, Oregon, and Washington.
State of calm: In Hawaii, just under 90 per cent of residents said they experienced enjoyment the day before the survey, followed by Wyoming in close second
Laid back: Hawaii once again came in as the least stressful state in the nation
Two of the five states with the lowest stress levels, Hawaii and Wyoming, also boasted the highest levels of enjoyment in 2012.
In Hawaii, just under 90 per cent of residents said they experienced enjoyment the day before the survey, followed by Wyoming in close second.
Although New York is far from the most stressful place to live, according to the survey, residents of the state are not having much fun either.The index showed that only 82 per cent of people living in the Empire State experienced enjoyment the day before the survey, landing the region in the fourth place behind neighboring New Jersey, Kentucky and Rhode Island.