A popular check for identifying stress was devised by two American psychologists, Holmes and Rah'e*, who created a scale of forty-three life events considered to be stressful. They indicate that if you experience two or more life-change events within a twelve-month period the greater your risk of suffering from stress.
Each event is scored according to the degree of stress associated with the activity. According to the scale, the top 10 most stressful life events are listed below:
• death of a partner
• divorce
• separation from partner
• imprisonment
• death of a close family member
• personal illness or injury
• marriage
• dismissal from work
• change of job
• retirement
• Holmes and Rahe (1967) 'The social readjustment rating scale', Psychosomatic Medicine, 11:213-18.
Identifying Stress
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