For the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale, I rated myself very reasonably. I consider my lifestyle to be unexciting, uneventful—and, incidentally, by my own choice—not very stimulating when it comes to social involvement. Despite these lackluster symptoms, I did not score well on Holmes and Rahe’s stress test. In respect to my life in the past year, I scored above average on the test. As in, I rated well over the “300+” (“The Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale”) points and that granted me a “high or very high risk of becoming ill in the near future” (“The Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale”).
At this turn in my life I don’t feel inclined to a “high or very high risk” (“The Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale”) of being ill. But the test results are conditional. They do not involve a history of family, ethnic, age, or location-related results. It is very much about the hear and now. It may well be generic since there is no discussion of an anxious personality versus an indifferent one. Though the test is to be scored by the individual, there is an assumption that the person is very reflective toward her conditions.
Many of my activities I ticked on the scale were in relation to a “change in recreation” (“The Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale”). I happen to exercise these days, and that became a “change in eating habits, sleeping habits, and revision of personal habits” (“The Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale”) and the like. This doesn’t make the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale a fluke. The test is made to consider actions in the negative, and it’s first 20 life events are where the bigger numbers add up. I must admit I did tick some of those boxes. And the test weighed them much heavier than I would have. My family has a baby in it, in addition to a member, and a close friend having also died; I have different feelings toward sex, and I did have a foot injury between jobs. At the time, other than the deceased friend, I did not feel negatively affected by these other life events. Actually, I thought the past years may have been my best.
Works Cited
“The Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale”. Mind Tools. Mind Tools Ltd., 1996-2013. Web. 16 June 2013.
