The Life Events Inventory as a predictor for injury and illness
– The Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale – take the test below

 

It may seem almost blatantly obvious that major life changes contribute to stress but it may not be as obvious that multiple major life changes within one year correlate with a higher risk of injury or illness.

 

We too often take it for granted that life changes alter a person’s social roles and relationships, such as mar­riage, divorce, job change, serious illness, or the death of a loved one, and thus, they increase a person’s suscepti­bility to stress, and in turn contribute if not directly cause a host of physical, mental and emotional ailments and illnesses. The ripples of stress will often last for a year or even longer.

 

In 1967, psychiatrists Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe examined the medical records of over 5,000 medical patients as a way to determine whether stressful events might cause illnesses. Patients were asked to tally a list of 43 life events based on a relative score. A positive correlation of 0.118 was found between their life events and their illnesses. Their results were published as the Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS) – now known as the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale. Rahe went on to test the validity of their Stress Scale with a group of 2,500 US sailors as well as other groups of different populations within the United States (with African, Hispanic and White American groups.) All of the results support the links between stress and illness.

 

Below is the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale, a list of forty-three stressful events that are believed to contribute to illness. It can also be viewed as a life events inventory. When completing the inventory, check the boxes based on events that occurred within the past twelve months.

 

You can also take the Stress Test – a powerful way of determining if you have a problem and helping you to identify the symptoms of stress. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Life Events	Life Crisis Units
Death of spouse	100
Divorce	73
Martial separation	65
Jail term	63
Death of close family member	63
Personal injury or illness	53
Marriage	50
Fired at work	47
Marital reconciliation	45
Retirement	45
Change in health of a family member	44
Pregnancy	40
Sex Difficulties	39
Gain of new family member	39
Business readjustment	39
Change in financial state	38
Death of close friend	37
Change to different line of work	36
Change in number of arguments with spouse	35
Mortgage over $100,000	31
Foreclosure of mortgage or loan	30
Change in responsibilities at work	29
Son or daughter leaving home	29
Trouble with in-laws	29
Outstanding personal achievement	28
Wife begins or stops work	26
Begin or end school	26
Change in living conditions	25
Revision in personal habits	24
Trouble with boss	23
Change in work 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
Mortgage or loan less than $30,000	17
Change in sleeping habits	16
Change in number of family get-togethers	15
Change in eating habits	15
Vacation	13
Christmas alone	12
Minor violations of the law	11

 

 

 

 

 

Holmes and Rahe found that scores of:

 

• 150 – 199 points increase your likelihood of illness by 40%
• 200 – 299 points increase your likelihood of illness by 50%
• 300 and above increase your likelihood of illness by 80%

 

 

 

When assessing the full implications of the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale, it is also important to take into account other factors such as your personality, temperament, how you react to change, the support system you have in place and the meaning of each life change. For example, while a divorce is stressful, it might be preferable to continuing to live in an abusive or unhappy marriage and as such, the divorce could quickly result in a lowering of stress.

 

Dr. Steve Burns is a graduate of U.C.L.A. Medical School and a practicing physician since 1974. Dr. Burns has identified what he terms as the common ‘weak links’ in the physical body, and the symptoms of their malfunction:

 

• Brain OVERSTRESS
  Fatigue, aches and pains, crying spells, depression, anxiety attacks, sleep disturbance

 

• Gastrointestinal Tract
  Ulcer, cramps and diarrhea, colitis, irritable bowel

 

• Glandular System
  Thyroid gland malfunction

 

• Cardiovascular
  High blood pressure, heart attack, abnormal heart beat, stroke

 

• Skin
  Itchy skin rashes

 

• Immune System
  Decreased resistance to infections and neoplasm

 

You can also take the Stress Test – a powerful way of determining if you have a problem and helping you to identify the symptoms of stress. 

 

To reduce stress, help restore calm, use my hypnosis audio program, Relax Now
or my hypnosis audio program, Get Over It.

 

 

 

 

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