Alabama
Stress in Alabama: High rankings, real pressures, and paths to relief – Yellowhammer News
From sleepless nights to financial worries, stress has become a daily reality for many Alabamians—and it shows in the data. A new 2025 WalletHub study confirms that Alabama ranks among the top 10 most stressed states in the U.S., placing 8th overall.
The study analyzed 40 key indicators of stress, including work hours, financial strain, family pressures, and health-related challenges. Alabama was one of six Southern states to appear in the top 10, underscoring the region’s ongoing struggle with mental health access, economic insecurity, and limited resources.
The report evaluated multiple stressors and revealed that residents of Alabama experience disproportionate levels of financial and health-related stress. Key findings include:
Key Stress Indicators for Alabama
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3rd fewest average hours of sleep per night
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2nd-fewest psychologists per capita
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3rd lowest average credit scores in the U.S.
These factors contributed to the state’s high stress ranking, which reflects ongoing strain in daily life and long-term well-being.
Top 10 Most Stressed States in 2025
Source: WalletHub’s analysis of 40 stress-related metrics
| Rank | State | Stress Level |
|---|---|---|
| 🟥 1 | New Mexico | Very High |
| 🟥 2 | Nevada | Very High |
| 🟥 3 | Louisiana | Very High |
| 🟧 4 | West Virginia | High |
| 🟧 5 | Mississippi | High |
| 🟨 6 | Tennessee | Moderate-High |
| 🟨 7 | Arkansas | Moderate-High |
| 🟨 8 | Alabama | Moderate-High |
| 🟩 9 | Florida | Moderate |
| 🟩 10 | Oregon | Moderate |
Color Legend: 🟥 Very High | 🟧 High | 🟨 Moderate-High | 🟩 Moderate
Southern States Under Pressure
The Deep South remains a stress hotspot. Alabama joins Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Florida in the top 10, highlighting a regional trend shaped by long-standing challenges like limited access to mental health care, lower credit scores, and economic instability.
Solutions and Support: What’s Being Done
Despite the troubling statistics, Alabama is taking steps to reduce stress levels through statewide and community-based initiatives.
Statewide Crisis Support
The Alabama Crisis System of Care provides comprehensive mental health services, including:
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The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, available 24/7
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Regional crisis centers for psychiatric evaluation and stabilization
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Mobile crisis teams for on-site intervention
These services aim to reduce emergency room visits and offer faster help to those in crisis.
Community and Campus Resources
Organizations and institutions across Alabama offer free or low-cost stress-reduction programs. Some examples include:
Healthy Habits for Everyday Stress
Alabamians can also manage stress through personal routines:
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Regular physical activity, like walking or biking
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Practicing relaxation techniques, including deep breathing and mindfulness
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Maintaining balanced sleep and nutrition
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Seeking out community support networks
About the Study
WalletHub’s 2025 report analyzed data from government and research sources, grouping indicators into four categories: work stress, money stress, family stress, and health & safety stress.
Sherri Blevins is a writer for Mountain Valley News and a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You may contact her at [email protected].
Adrian Klemm, meet the challenge of a career.
Alabama football’s first-year offensive line coach is one of three new faces at Kalen DeBoer’s conference table. And, next year, history says there might be three more. At the major college level, heavy turnover among assistant coaches is business as usual. But make no mistake; Klemm was DeBoer’s most important hire of the offseason. He might well be the most important hire DeBoer has made in his 26 months on the job.
That’s the magnitude of the mess that Alabama’s 2025 offensive line left behind.
The Crimson Tide’s 2025 rushing attack was an insult to the word attack. It was more like a rushing surrender; ranked 123rd out of 134 FBS teams, and 15th of 16 SEC teams, at 104.1 yards per game. Rock bottom came in the SEC Championship Game, when Georgia sent it backward for minus-3 yards. It’s frankly remarkable that quarterback Ty Simpson assembled a 28-5 TD-INT ratio, as a first-year starter no less, with virtually zero help from a ground game. And while we’re on the subject of the passing game, Simpson wasn’t very well-protected, either. At 2.13 sacks allowed per game, UA ranked 90th in the country.
If Klemm even bothered to watch film of last year’s offensive line, he had to do it with one eye closed.
UA tried all sorts of combinations up front, looking for a solution to what was plainly its biggest problem. In 45 years paying attention to college football, I never saw so many substitutions on an offensive line as Alabama made in 2025. Backups got every chance that could have asked for. On one hand, it was understandable that now-fired offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic refused to stay with a failing five all season.
But it also smacked of desperation.
In the end, it was clear that no combination was effective; the first-team unit Kapilovic finally settled on late in the season was the one that got manhandled by Georgia in Atlanta.
It was a shock to the system for Alabama fans, who know what a dominant run game looks like whether they’re young or old. Jam Miller led Alabama with 504 rushing yards on the season; former UA star Derrick Henry once ran for 557 in a three-game stretch against Tennessee, LSU and Mississippi State.
Miller, of course, is no Henry. But the gap between those two is no bigger than the gap between Henry’s 2015 offensive line and the disastrous line that took the field a decade later.
Klemm is tasked with turning that mess around in a single offseason, with only one returning part-time starter in sophomore Michael Carroll, a promising cornerstone to be sure. But an offensive line is only as strong as its weakest link, and Klemm must find four links to line up beside Carroll. A collection of returning backups, transfers and incoming freshmen have a lot of improvements to make, along with a strong impression on a new position coach.
With spring practice underway, that process has begun in earnest.
And Klemm faces a taller task than any assistant on the practice field.
Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on X.com @chasegoodbread.
The mother of an Enterprise toddler, reported missing Feb. 16, has been charged with capital murder, said Police Chief Michael Moore.
Adrienne Reid, mother of Genesis Nova Reid, reported her daughter as missing to authorities and said the two-year-old was not in the home and the door was open. On March 9, she was charged with capital murder of a child under the age of 14 and abuse of a corpse, Moore said. March 9 would have been Genesis’ birthday, he said. Adrienne Reid had previously been charged with filing a false report about her daughter’s disappearance.
She is being held without bond, Moore said. Adrienne Reid could not be reached for comment and court records do not show if she has an attorney.
The case shocked Enterprise and southeast Alabama. Hundreds of volunteers searched for her, and people were asked to wear pink to honor her.
Early on in the investigation neighbors told law enforcement that they hadn’t seen the child for several weeks.
Moore said evidence points to the capital murder charge even though Genesis’ body has not been found. The last time she was seen was Christmas night while visiting family in Dothan, Moore said. Video footage at the apartment complex where they lived showed Adrienne Reid about 11:30 p.m. Christmas night pulling a rolling duffle bag to a dumpster at the complex, and throwing the duffle bag inside, he said.
Coffee County Sheriff Scott Byrd said his office began the process of planning to search the landfill early in the investigation. The landfill covers 100 acres. He said the area where the contents of the dumpster that allegedly contained Genesis’ body was likely dumped has been narrowed down to an area covering a few hundred feet.
Active searches will begin soon, he said. District Attorney James Tarbox said the state will be seeking the death penalty.
Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Marty Roney at mroney@gannett.com. To support his work, please subscribe to the Montgomery Advertiser.
BREWTON, Ala. — A 46-year-old woman is charged with the murder of a 27-year-old woman in Brewton, Alabama.
Deputies arrested Renotta Seltzer on Friday. She was booked into the Escambia County Jail in Alabama around 4:15 p.m. She’s being held without bond.
The shooting happened Friday on McGougin Road.
The victim is 27-year-old Anna Brown.
Sheriff Heath Jackson tells WEAR News that the investigation into the incident is ongoing.
The sheriff’s office is expected to release more details on Monday.
Stick with WEAR News on-air and online for more updates on this story.
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