The American Psychological Association just came out with a survey saying near half of Americans experienced a significant increase in stress in the past year. The majority of those identified financial stress as a serious concern.

You'd think more people would be stressed and fearful about all those kids being born to crazed celebrity mothers. But no, they're cranky instead over the stock market, gas prices, job security and a lot of other things that hit them straight in the pocketbook.

When asked about the recent financial crisis, almost half of Americans say that they are increasingly stressed about their ability to provide for their family's basic needs. Eight out of 10 say the economy is a significant cause of stress, up from 66 percent in April, said the psychologists' press release.

Well, knock me over with a duh. The amazing thing is those people unfazed by the recent financial turmoil. Other than political media consultants who specialize in nasty television ads, who has any right to walk around with a smile on his face these days?

Incredibly, women are carrying more of the stress load than males of the species -- yet again. It makes a lot of sense, since they're already accustomed to the pain of childbirth, the bulk of house chores, the majority of caregiving and lack of pay and respect in the workplace. A little more stress on top of those sacrifices is hardly going to push them over the edge.

Compared with men, more women say they are stressed about money (83 percent), housing costs (64 percent), health problems affecting their families (70 percent) and the ability to name who will be America's next top dancer (92 percent). Just kidding about that last dancer part (it was only 87 percent).

Women are much more likely than men to experience stress symptoms such as headaches, sadness, anxiety and lethargy. In other words, men can just tune out these pressures of modern-day life, usually by tuning in to a ballgame. Or by having a drink.

When it comes to managing stress, women are more likely than men to cope with it by eating (39 percent versus 29 percent) whereas more men choose to do battle by drinking (22 percent to 15 percent). And more women than men say they're not doing enough to manage stress.

Really, girls, if you want to know the truth, we guys just don't care that much about any of this. I hope that's coming across sufficiently.

So what's to be done about any of this, assuming you're among that one-half of the population who cares?

The American Psychological Association (apa.org) puts out a "Stress Tip Sheet," with a range of helpful advice. For instance, it suggests: "Take regular vacations or other breaks from work." Yes, that's it! More vacations! More weekends at country inns and week-long cruises! More trips to Hawaii!

Oh, wait, money's the reason we're stressed, and those things cost still more money we don't have. Dang. Thanks a lot, American Psychological Association. Now we're depressed on top of our stress. Never fear: The association says drinking "plenty of water" will be helpful.

Alas, there goes someone overrating water once more -- one of The Morning File's pet peeves. Yes, drink water, and all of your problems will go away. This H2O is so often held up as some kind of magic elixir you'd think we couldn't live without it.

Well, guess what: The Morning File knows plenty of people who drink water and still have stress and financial problems and car troubles and rotten kids and leaky faucets and stains that won't come out of their shirts.

But yes, drink water if you like. It probably can't hurt anything.

You know who's not stressed? Suresh Joachim of Toronto. He and a German woman, Claudia Wavra, had not a care in the world last week but watching movies. They sat in a plexiglas room in Times Square while watching 57 films in 123 hours and outlasting other competitors trying to win Guinness World Records recognition for continuous movie watching.

For Mr. Joachim, a 39-year-old Sri Lanka native, this is nothing new. He previously set records for running on a treadmill, crawling, drumming and dancing, among other curious accomplishments. His best preparation for the movie feat came in 2005, when he watched television continuously for 69 hours, 48 minutes.

As you can tell, Mr. Joachim is a man. These are the kinds of things we do to avoid stress. And we thank you women for your understanding.