Thursday, January 26, 2006

Life events stress scale

I came across this life events stress scale and I think it's really interesting. I had heard of it before but never seen it. On a scale of 1 to 100, vacation gets 13 points. Jail term gets 63. I wonder if that depends on the length of jail time. Marriage gets a 50. Now, here's a weird one -- outstanding personal achievement gets a 28. What's that about? The stress it takes to get to that achievement or the stress of keeping up with it or something? Hmm.

Anyway, it just made me think about my own life events in the past 12 months. And how CHANGE is so hard, no matter if its for the good or bad. I mean, look at the last items on the scale. They all start with the word change!

Just something to think about...I wonder how these items got on here vs. other things not on this list?

Life Event Stress Scale
In the past 12 months, which of the following major life events have taken place in your life?
1. Make a check mark next to each event that you have experienced this year
2. When you are done, add up the points for each event.
3. Calculate your score at the end.

Event Stress Scores
__ Death of Spouse 100
__ Divorce 73
__ Marital Separation 65
__ Jail Term 63
__ Death of close family member 63
__ Personal injury or illness 53
__ Marriage 50
__ Fired from work 47
__ Marital reconciliation 45
__ Retirement 45
__ Change in family member's health 44
__ Pregnancy 40
__ Sex difficulties 39
__ Addition to family 39
__ Business readjustment 39
__ Change in financial status 38
__ Death of close friend 37
__ Change to a different line of work 36
__ Change in number of marital arguments 35
__ Mortgage or loan over $10,000 31
__ Foreclosure of mortgage or loan 30
__ Change in work responsibilities 29
__ Trouble with inlaws 29
__ Outstanding personal achievement 28
__ Spouse begins or stops work 26
__ Starting or finishing school 26
__ Change in living conditions 25
__ Revision of personal habits 24
__ Trouble with boss 23
__ Change in work hours, conditions 20
__ Change in residence 20
__ Change in schools 20
__ Change in recreational habits 19
__ Change in church activities 19
__ Change in social activities 18
__ Mortgage or loan under $10,000 17
__ Change in sleeping habits 16
__ Change in number of family gatherings 15
__ Change in eating habits 15
__ Vacation 13
__ Christmas season 12
__ Minor violation of the law 11
CALCULATE Your total score:___________

This scale shows the kind of life pressure that you are facing. Depending on your coping skills or the lack thereof, this scale can predict the likelihood that you will that you will fall victim to a stress related illness. The illness could be mildfrequent tension headaches, acid indigestion, loss of sleep to more serious problems like ulcers, migraines, lower back pain, etc..

SCORE SCALE:
0 - 149 Low susceptibility to stress related illness
150- 299 Medium susceptibility to stress related illness
300 and over High susceptibility to stress related illness

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