Stress Evaluation

STRESS EVALUATION

For many years, Drs. Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe have studied the effects of change on our physical well-being. They have discovered that: “Four out of every five people who have experienced many dramatic changes in their lives over the past year can expect a major illness within the next two years.” They devised a list of life events and assigned a numerical rating called Life Change Units (LCU) to each one. Death of a spouse has the highest Life Change rating of 100; minor violations of the law, such as parking tickets, were given the lowest LCU rating.

They found that while 80% of people with scores over 300, and 53% of people with scores in the 150 – 300 range, became seriously depressed, had heart attacks or suffered other forms of illness, these disorders occurred in only 33 of people with scores under 150.

EXERCISE: HOLMES-RAHE STRESS EVALUATION

Add up the point values of the events that have occurred in your life in the past year.

Event	LCU	Event	LCU
Death of a spouse	100	Foreclosure of mortgage or loan	30
Marital separation	65	Change in work responsibilities	30
Death of a close family member	63	Son or daughter leaving home	29
Personal injury or illness	53	Trouble with in-laws	29
Marriage	50	Spouse beginning or stopping work	29
Loss of a job	47	Outstanding personal achievement	28
Marital reconciliation	45	Revision of personal habits	24
Retirement	45	Trouble with business superior	23
Change in health of a family member	44	Change in work house or conditions	20
Pregnancy	40	Change in residence	20
Sex difficulties	39	Change in work responsibilities	18
Gaining a new family member	39	Change in social activities	18
Change in financial status	38	Taking out a small mortgage on your home	17
Death of close friend	37	Change in number of family get-togethers	15
Change to a different kind of work	36	Change in eating habits	15
Increase or decrease in arguments with spouse	35	Vacation	13
Taking out a big mortgage on a home	31	Minor violation of the law	11

Total Life Change Units (LCU) _________

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