The stress from deepening debt is becoming a major pain in the neck—and the back and the head and the stomach—for millions of Americans.

According to an Associated Press-AOL Health poll, when people are dealing with mountains of debt, they’re much more likely to report health problems, too.

And not just little stuff; this means ulcers, severe depression, even heart attacks.

Edward Driscoll, 38, of Braintree, Mass., blames $10,000 in debt for contributing to his ulcers and his wife Kimberly’s panic attacks.

“Just worrying, worrying, worrying, you know, where the next payment of this is going to come from,” he says.

Although most people appear to be managing their debts, possibly 10 million to 16 million are “suffering terribly due to their debts, and their health is likely to be negatively impacted,” according to Paul J. Lavrakas, a research psychologist and AP consultant who analyzed the results of the survey.

Those are people who reported high levels of debt stress and suffered from at least three stress-related illnesses, he says.

That finding is supported by medical research that has linked chronic stress to a wide range of ailments.  And the current tough economic times and rising costs of living seem to be leading to increasing debt stress, 14 percent higher this year than in 2004, according to an index tied to the survey.

Among the people reporting high debt stress in the new poll:
- 27 percent had ulcers or digestive tract problems, compared with 8 percent of those with low levels of debt stress.
- 44 percent had migraines or other headaches, compared with 15 percent.
- 29 percent suffered severe anxiety, compared with 4 percent.
- 23 percent had severe depression, compared with 4 percent.
- 6 percent reported heart attacks, double the rate for those with low debt stress.
- More than half, 51 percent, had muscle tension, including pain in the lower back. That compared with 31 percent of those with low levels of debt stress.

According to the poll, people who reported high stress also were much more likely to have trouble concentrating and sleeping and were more prone to getting upset for no good reason.

It isn’t known for certain whether such stress is causing health problems, says Lavrakas, who while at Ohio State University in the late 1990s helped to develop an index to measure the extent to which people are stressed from financial debts.

But according to AP, medical research suggests that most of the symptoms reported in this poll are indeed typical of chronic stress. The body reacts with a “fight-or-flight” response, releasing adrenaline and the stress hormone cortisol. That helps you react fast in an emergency, but if the body stays in this high gear too long, those chemicals can wreak physical havoc in numerous systems in your body.

Regardless of the health implications, Americans are taking on more debt as tough economic times strain many people’s budgets.

Revolving consumer debt, almost all from credit cards, now totals $957 billion, compared with $800 billion in 2004, according to the Federal Reserve, AP says.

Average car loans are up, too, to $27,397, from $24,888 four years ago, while home mortgages total $10.5 trillion, compared with $7.8 trillion in 2004.