Stress causes:
Is your life stressful?

Stress causes vary depending on the individual. However, some events are definitely stressful to all of us!

In 1967, T. H. Holmes and R. H. Rahe developed a test by having a large number of volunteers rate the effect of various stressful events in their life. The following scale is adapted from their work and modernized.


Test your Stress

Identify the stressful events that have taken place in your life in the last 12 months and add up the points. Then evaluate your susceptibility to illness and mental health problems by checking your results in the Scoring section:

Scale of Stress Causes
Rank	Event	Points
1	Death of spouse	100
2	Divorce	73
3	Marital separation	65
4	Jail sentence	63
5	Death of close family member	63
6	Personal injury or illness	53
7	Wedding	50
8	Work dismissal	47
9	Marital reconciliation	45
10	Retirement	45
11	Change in family member's health	44
12	Pregnancy	40
13	Problems with sex	39
14	Arrival of new family member	39
15	Business readjustment	39
16	Change in financial situation	38
17	Death of a close friend	37
18	Different type of work	36
19	Change in number of marital arguments	35
20	Mortgage more than 3 times the family income	31
21	Forclosure of mortgage or loan	30
22	Change in work responsibilities	29
23	Son or daughter leaving home	29
24	Trouble with in-laws	29
25	Outstanding personal achievement	28
26	Spouse starts or stops working	26
27	Beginning or end of school	26
28	Change in living conditions	25
29	Revision of personal habits	24
30	Problems with employer	23
31	Change in work hours or conditions	20
32	Change in residence	20
33	Change in school	20
34	Change in recreation	19
35	Change in religious activities	19
36	Change in social activities	18
37	Mortgage or loan less than 3 times the family income	17
38	Change in sleep habits	16
39	Change in number of family get-togethers	15
40	Change in eating habits	15
41	Vacation	13
42	Religious/Cultural holidays	12
43	Minor law violations	11

Scoring

No significant problems	< 149
Mild crisis	150-200
Moderate crisis	200-299
Major life crisis	>300

Return from Stress Causes to Stress Management Information or Mind Test