We often hear that someone is stressed, but is there a more or less objective way to measure the amount of stress we are under?
It is something that Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe tried to do in 1967 after evaluating thousands of medical patients who were asked about their life experiences and experiences, looking for links between stress and the fact that they had fallen ill.
This is how they conceived the stress scale , which assigns a certain number of "vital change units" (UCV). The more UCVs a certain event has, the more stressful it is. And the higher the score, the more likely you are to get sick from stress.
Some examples are presented by Dean Burnett in his book The Idiot Brain :
At the top of the list of events endowed with an important vital importance is the "death of the couple", scored with 1000 UCV. A major personal physical injury is rated 53; a dismissal, with 47; a problem with the in-laws, with 29; and so on. It is surprising to see that divorce scores 73 and admission to prison only scores 63.
The original list with their scores is as follows:
Muerte del cónyuge- 100 Divorcio- 73 Separación matrimonial- 65 Encarcelamiento- 63 Muerte de un familiar cercano- 63 Lesión o enfermedad personal- 53 Matrimonio- 50 Despido del trabajo- 47 Paro- 47 Reconciliación matrimonial- 45 Jubilación- 45 Cambio de salud de un miembro de la familia- 44 Drogadicción y/o alcoholismo- 44 Embarazo- 40 Dificultades o problemas sexuales- 39 Incorporación de un nuevo miembro a la familia- 39 Reajuste de negocio- 39 Cambio de situación económica- 38 Muerte de un amigo íntimo- 37 Cambio en el tipo de trabajo- 36 Mala relación con el cónyuge- 35 Juicio por crédito o hipoteca- 30 Cambio de responsabilidad en el trabajo- 29 Hijo o hija que deja el hogar- 29 Problemas legales- 29 Logro personal notable- 28 La esposa comienza o deja de trabajar- 26 Comienzo o fin de la escolaridad- 26 Cambio en las condiciones de vida- 25 Revisión de hábitos personales- 24 Problemas con el jefe- 23 Cambio de turno o de condiciones laborales- 20 Cambio de residencia- 20 Cambio de colegio- 20 Cambio de actividades de ocio- 19 Cambio de actividad religiosa- 19 Cambio de actividades sociales- 18 Cambio de hábito de dormir- 17 Cambio en el número de reuniones familiares- 16 Cambio de hábitos alimentarios- 15 Vacaciones- 13 Navidades- 12 Leves transgresiones de la ley- 11It must be taken into account that each person has a different level of tolerance to stress, so the result is indicative . In addition, some time later this scale has been revised, updating it or creating children’s versions, for example.
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