Manila: A recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed that prayer is the top coping mechanism among Filipinos in dealing with stress. The survey, conducted nationwide from Sept. 24 to 30, asked adults 18 years old and above to provide just one answer to the question: What do you do to cope with stress?

According to Philippines News Agency, results released Thursday night showed 16 percent of respondents said they pray or engage in spiritual activities as their primary method for managing stress. Other popular stress-relief activities include resting or sleeping, chosen by 14 percent, and taking leisure trips, selected by 11 percent of participants.

Additionally, the survey found that positive thinking is a stress management technique for 7 percent of respondents, while 6 percent focus on work or school, and another 6 percent prefer to ignore or forget their problems. Spending time with family and exercising or walking were each chosen by 5 percent of those surveyed.

Further responses indicated that some Filipinos find stress relief through playing sports or online games, doing household chores, talking with friends or neighbors, watching television or movies, eating, and singing or listening to music, each accounting for 4 percent of the answers.

A smaller proportion of respondents turn to scrolling on social media or drinking alcohol (2 percent each), gardening or farming, and smoking cigarettes (1 percent each), while a few reported crying (0.4 percent) or seeking medical help (0.2 percent) as their ways to cope with stress.

The sampling error margins are ±3 percent for national percentages, ±4 percent for Balance Luzon, and ±6 percent each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.