LIFE STRESS SCALE

A Working model For Measuring The Impact Of Selected Life Events On An Individual

The Life Stress scale is a widely-used index that lists forty-three stressful life events and an arbitrary value of each in terms of “stress units.” A Stress Unit represents, in percentage, the effect of the event on a person.

This scale was first identified and developed by Holmes and Rahe. They presented their results in “The Social Readjustment Rating Scale,” Journal of Psychosomatic Research 2 (1967): pp 213-218.

To use the Scale, one checks off events that have happened to him/her within the last year, then adds up the total number of stress units. You can add your own life stress events, and assign the appropriate number of points by comparing it to the events ranked in the chart.

Holmes and Rahe found that a score of 150 for events that have occurred within the last year gives you a fifty-fifty chance of developing an illness. A score of 300+ gives you a ninety percent chance, meaning you are almost certain to break down with a mental illness.

Notice that some (ordinarily) “positive” events (e.g., an outstanding personal achievement, vacation, Christmas) can be as stressful as the negative ones.

There are omissions, of course. For example, where would you put “running a marathon (when nobody expected you to begin, let alone finish), starting tap-dancing lessons, or being named “Outstanding hobbyist of the year,” when you didn’t even know there was a contest.

Here are the Life Events with their relative Value Scores.

Obviously, one may disagree with some of these values. We certainly do. For example, we do not believe that the scientists accounted enough for the accumulative effect of multiple events. And we strongly believe that the effects are not limited to a one-year time frame—especially where a death is concerned.

Another case is when one has a physical illness or disability that lasts the rest of one’s lifetime and causes a complete change in one’s life situation.

However, this scale is a starting point for measuring the effects of certain conditions on one’s life. It is considered one of the “standards” of measuring one’s pain or discomfort with living. This is why we have shown it here.

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