Life Stress Test

I haven’t posted for a few weeks because, well, life’s been a bit stressful. Family reunions out of town, vacation, visitors, and more visitors…..events that have had me thinking about which life events have the potential to put people over the edge. That’s when I discovered the Life Stress Test.

It’s a great little tool available on the Internet that measures how much stress you’re under, based on life events. It assigns a score to these events and calculates a total score based on the stressful experiences in your life during the past one to two years. A score of 0 - 149 means you’re doing pretty well; 150 – 299 means medium susceptibility to stress and a need to practice relaxation, and a score of 300 and above means the potential for ‘a serious eruption or illness.’

You’ve probably heard of this test and would agree that events such as the death of a spouse (score: 100), getting fired (47), divorce (73), son/daughter leaving home (29), and even Christmas (12) can result in stress-related illnesses or even disease. The test suggests that if you are experiencing high stress you should learn effective coping skills or get outside help, which, and I’m going out on a limb here, the test’s authors can probably provide. For a modest fee.

I reviewed the list of stressful life events and my only criticism is this: the list isn’t complete enough. Living in the suburbs has its own special set of stressful life events. I have listed some of them below along with their corresponding scores.

Cat food with anti-hairball formula actually has reverse effect – 55

Favorite suit no longer fits – 50
Subsequent diet results in weight gain, not loss – 65

Son or daughter returns home – 55
With their toddler – 65
Who cries a lot – 75

Discovery of crow’s feet near eyes – 25
Discovery that anti-crow’s feet creams will cost $100 per month for the rest of your natural life – 50

Week of August temperatures in the 100s – 60
Seeing what it costs to cool the house during a week of August temperatures in the 100s – 90

High traffic en route to the city – 40
High traffic en route to the city and satellite radio is down – 70

Crab grass takes over lawn – 45
While carefully nurtured plants wither in summer heat - 75

Calculate the total score of the above events and you’ll get an idea of the kind of stress I’ve been dealing with. I’d sit down and try to relax while sipping on a perky Pinot Grigio but my favorite wine store doesn’t carry it anymore. In fact, I’m not sure the winemaker still makes it. Just add another 35 points to the total.