Major Life Events

How you cope with major life events can have a significant impact on your mental and physical health.  The following Life Event Scale, appeared in the Journal of Psychosomatic Research and was developed by T.H. Holmes and R.H Rahe, as an index for understanding the kind of life pressure you are facing.  Depending on your coping skills, this scale can predict the likelihood that your stress levels will impact your health. Take a few moments to review the index and you may want to make a note of the events and corresponding scores that apply to you.

When you are done, you may be interested in knowing what the scores mean; you can add up the points for each event that applies to you to calculate your score.  If you are curious about your score we have supplied the score scale for you:

Based on your personal, cultural and social circumstances you may be contending with life events that are not on this list; you might want to make a note of your own personal stressors. If you are experiencing significant stress in your life, not only is there a potential for worsening existing risk factors for physical illness, prolonged reactions to stress can alter the body’s immune system. Exposure to highly stressful situations may precipitate the onset of a mental or behavioral disorder.  Even daily life stressors, that appear to be manageable, can eventually overwhelm you and effect your psychological and physical health. If you need help in developing adaptive coping skills, please contact us.