by Michael Plank
Last week, I put up a post about how Stress just might be one of the most dangerous obstacles in our lives these days.
This week, my family moved houses AND we started school. Stress levels are high.
This week, I also came across something called the Life Change Index Scale. This is also called the Social Readjustment Rating Scale and the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale. Back in 1967, 2 psychologists (Holmes and Rahe) developed a screening and then a scale looking at events that cause stress. Now, this scale isn’t perfect, and the conclusions they draw aren’t bulletproof, but they are interesting.
At the top of the list for stressful events, with a score of 100, is the death of a spouse. Next is divorce, with a score of 73. Further down the line are getting fired from a job (47), starting or ending school (26), and the approach of Christmas (12). There are 43 events in all.
Here’s what’s especially interesting. After looking at the occurrences of these events among 5,000 medical patients, and, 3 years later, 2,500 sailors, Holmes and Rahe found a strong correlation between high stress and negative physical health items.
If you look at the list of 43 events, select which ones you experienced in the last year or are likely to experience in the next year, and add up their respective scores, you get a number. If your number is over 300, Holmes and Rahe say that there is an 80% chance of illness in the near future. If your number is between 150 and 299, there’s a 50% chance. (There’s a similar scale developed more recently for non-adults HERE).
Note that positive stress events like marital reconciliation or even change in eating habits still induce stress that counts on this scale.
What’s the point of all this doom and gloom?
Just this: stress is nothing to take lightly.
It’s kind of fun and cool to talk about how busy we are all the time. Kids are back at school. Sports are starting. The holidays will be here before you know it. And we’re busy, busy, busy, busy.
But let this be a warning, maybe: stress is powerful. Managing stress is also powerful.
There’s a reason that our Bare Minimum Monday posts have four sections for action steps: move, eat, sleep, and manage (stress).
Work out. Eat your protein and vegetables. Get some sleep. But remember that none of that matters if you’re a miserable human being.