The holmes and rahe stress scale-understanding the impact of long term stress

The Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale

Stress is the most common issue in today’s era. Everyone starting from a young kid to an old person faces some kind of stress in their day-to-day life. Stress can also help you with instant motivation and help you perform better than you actually can. However, stress beyond the limits is very dangerous for your body both mentally as well as physically. But what do you actually mean by limit?

The limit here or anywhere means a certain boundary beyond which anything is considered excess. When it comes to stress, general stress about day to day life and some small issues are completely fine. But when the stress is too high due to some serious issues or different types of situation which may have a long term or some serious effect is not normal.

WHAT’S IN IT

Holmes Rahe Stress Scale

What is the Holmes Rahe stress scale?

Holmes Rahe stress scale is basically a kind of measurement device or measurement formula that helps you calculate stress levels and how they can affect you. Also, It shows a connection between stress levels and illness.

History

Meanwhile, A few decades back in 1967 Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe surveyed around five thousand patients medical reports. This was done to determine whether stressful events cause any kind of illness. The patients were asked to rank a list of events and each event was given a unit known as a life-changing unit. The patients ranked forty-three life events.

Description

Holmes Rahe stress scale has basically assigned a score or you can call it weights to each life event that they have listed and a person taking this test has to calculate their total score by adding the score of all the events that he is going through. Also, The final total that comes at the end of this test is the score that actually tells you how stressful you are and what are the chances of you getting affected by this stress level.

Holmes Rahe Stress Inventory

So, The stress inventory is classified into two categories one is for the adults and there is for the non-adults.

For adults

Life event	Life change units
Death of a spouse	100
Divorce	73
Marital separation	65
Imprisonment	63
Death of a close family member	63
Personal injury or illness	53
Marriage	50
Dismissal from work	47
Marital reconciliation	45
Retirement	45
Change in health of family member	44
Pregnancy	40
Sexual difficulties	39
Gain a new family member	39
Business readjustment	39
Change in a financial state	38
Death of a close friend	37
Change to a different line of work	36
Change in frequency of arguments	35
Major mortgage	32
Foreclosure of mortgage or loan	30
Change in responsibilities at work	29
Child leaving home	29
Trouble with in-laws	29
Outstanding personal achievement	28
Spouse starts or stops work	26
Beginning or end of the school	26
Change in living conditions	25
Revision of personal habits	24
Trouble with boss	23
Change in working hours or conditions	20
Change in residence	20
Change in schools	20
Change in recreation	19
Change in church activities	19
Change in social activities	18
Minor mortgage or loan	17
Change in sleeping habits	16
Change in number of family reunions	15
Change in eating habits	15
Vacation	13
Major Holiday	12
Minor violation of law	11

For Non-adults

Life Event	Life Change Units
Death of parent	100
Unplanned pregnancy/abortion	100
Getting married	95
Divorce of parents	90
Acquiring a visible deformity	80
Fathering a child	70
Jail sentence of a parent for over one year	70
Marital separation of parents	69
Death of a brother or sister	68
Change in acceptance by peers	67
Unplanned pregnancy of sister	64
Discovery of being an adopted child	63
Marriage of parent to stepparent	63
Death of a close friend	63
Having a visible congenital deformity	62
Serious illness requiring hospitalization	58
Failure of a grade in school	56
Not making an extracurricular activity	55
Hospitalization of a parent	55
Jail sentence of a parent for over 30 days	53
Breaking up with boyfriend or girlfriend	53
Beginning to date	51
Suspension from school	50
Becoming involved with drugs or alcohol	50
Birth of a brother or sister	50
Increase in arguments between parents	47
Loss of job by parent	46
Outstanding personal achievement	46
Change in parent’s financial status	45
Accepted at college of choice	43
Being a senior in high school	42
Hospitalization of a sibling	41
Increased absence of a parent from home	38
Brother or sister leaving home	37
Addition of the third adult to family	34
Becoming a full-fledged member of a church	31
The decrease in arguments between parents	27
The decrease in arguments with parents	26
Mother or father beginning work	26

Just calculate the total score and compare the results as below.

Score =/< 150 This is considered good as at this score you are at a very low stage of stress and have a very less chance of getting affected by it.

Score >150 but <300 At this stage, your stress levels are pretty high and you have moderate chances of getting affected by it and this may lead to some stress and illness issues both at the physical and mental level.

Score >300 This is the most serious stage where you are at an extreme level of getting affected by stress. At this stage, you can really face some serious stress and illness issues.

Tips to Reduce Stress

The most simple and practical solution to reduce your stress would be to take a break. Taking a break from your daily life routine may actually help you relax better. And when you relax better you can actually feel good and you think less about the stressful situations.

However every time it is not possible to take a break, below are some tips that can actually help you manage stress and also stay away from it.

• Exercise: Exercise is a very good option as it releases good hormones which can actually help you with stress.
• Reduce intake of alcohol, cigarettes, any other drug: Alcohol and cigarettes are very bad for your overall health for some time they can help you forget about stress but in long term, they will affect you.
• Spend more time with friends and family: No one can help you fight stress better than your own friends and family.
• Set goals and priorities: Goals are important as they can help you divert your focus from stress to something good.
• Talk to your health care provider

Conclusion

Stress is the most common issue in today’s era. Also, Everyone starting from a young kid to an old person faces some kind of stress in their day to day life and stress can actually help you create a backup or prepare for a situation thinking of what is causing you stress. Stress can also help you with instant motivation and help you perform better than you actually can. meanwhile, A few decades back in 1967 Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe surveyed around five thousand patients medical reports. So, This was done to determine whether stressful events cause any kind of illness and The stress inventory is classified into two categories one is for the adults and there is for the non-adults.

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