SELF-ASSESSMENT
“Normally we do not so much look at things as overlook them.” - Alan Watts
Real People, Real Stories
The Stress Management 101 class was about to begin. Today's topic was Assessing Your
Stress. Angie sat quietly in the back of the classroom. “Ok class, let's start by checking our
resting heart rate”, the teacher announced. Angie's pulse was 105 beats per minute. “Next,
check the number of breaths you take per minute.” Angie counted 30 breaths. “How long
does it usually take you to fall asleep once you lie down at night?” Angie said it usually
takes about two hours. “How much of the time do you feel high levels of stress?” Angie said
she feels that way almost all the time. “Doesn't that feel unpleasant to always feel so
stressed?” the teacher questioned. Angie's reply was both sad and common among college
students, “I didn't know there was another way to feel. I assumed this was the way college
life was supposed to be, and that everyone feels this way.”
SELF ASSESSMENT
Several years ago author Richard Carlson created a very catchy title for his best-selling book,
Don't Sweat the Small Stuff…It Is All Small Stuff. He offered some important advice for our
over-stressed society. We need to step back and relax. That is great advice. The problem is,
not all stuff is small stuff. Some things are worth sweating over. The tricky part is
determining what is really important and worthy of your energy and what is the “small stuff”
that causes needless worry and decreases the quality of your life.
One of the great challenges for successful stress management is determining what it is that
causes you stress. A certain level of stress can energize and motivate you to deal with the
important issues in your life. You want to focus your energy on those things in your life that
are truly important. How do you determine what factors are causing unnecessary stress? Is
my stress level normal? These are important questions we will answer in this chapter.
Where Are You Now?
How do you assess stress? How do you measure stress? In this chapter, you will find a
variety of tools to help assess your stress. Some of these tools are simple and fun. Some are
more scientific and complex. Each of them has been selected to increase your understanding
of stress in your life. Each of these tools will provide information that you can use to
develop a stress management program that works for you. The first step in developing a plan
is assessment. Assessing where you stand right now is critical to making progress in achieving
a balanced life. As Alan Watts stated in our chapter quote, “Normally we do not so much
look at things as overlook them.” This quote contains real truth. You may be so busy living
your life that you don't take time to stop and assess. You just keep doing what you are
doing.
There is not one best tool for assessing stress, in part because reactions to events
vary from person to person. What absolutely frazzles one person may excite and positively
challenge another. Research supports the idea that it is not the actual stress that matters
most, but our ability to control how we perceive and react to the situation that contributed
to the stress. External events do not cause stress; how we perceive and cope with them
does.
It is important to know that the information you gain from the assessments in this
chapter is for you to take and use as it seems relevant to you and your life. These
assessments and surveys are not intended to be diagnostic, but only to guide you in
understanding yourself better. Taken together you will discover an overall picture of your
current stress status. This will help you decide where you want to go and how you can get
there.
Begin with a few simple, yet informative, measures of potential stress. Using the Assess
Stress Table, fill in your response for each item based on the instructions following the
table.
Assess Stress Table
Resting Heart Rate
__75___ Beats per minute
Breathing Pattern
_______ Abdomen _______Chest _______ Both
Respiration Rate
___12___ Breaths per minute
Stress-o-meter
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Resting Heart Rate
Check your resting heart rate (pulse) after you have been sitting or relaxing for a period of
time. You will need a watch or clock with a second hand (or digital seconds). First, find your
pulse. You can find your radial pulse on the thumb side of your wrist or your carotid pulse
on your neck just under the jaw. For sixty seconds count the number of beats that you feel.
Place this number in the first line of the Assess Stress Table.
Breathing Pattern
Next, find a chair that has a back to it. Sit in the chair so your back is primarily straight up
and down against the back of the chair. Place one hand on your abdomen with your palm
covering your navel. Place your other hand on the upper part of your chest with the palm of
that hand just above the heart. For a minute or two, become very aware of your breathing.
While sitting straight up, notice your breath as it goes in and comes back out. Become aware
of your hands as you breathe in and out. Which one seems to move more? Is it your
abdominal hand or your chest hand? Or do they both move equally?
Try this second technique to see if you get the same results. First, breathe out and empty
your lungs. Count to three as you inhale deeply. Now, hold it. Did your shoulders go up? Did
you feel like the air filled the upper part of your lungs? If so, you probably lean toward chest
breathing. If you are a diaphragmatic breather, you would feel your abdominal area expand,
your belt tighten, and fullness in the lower part of your lungs and chest. Record your results
on the Assess Your Stress Table.
Respiration Rate
Now, for about a minute, become aware of your breathing again. This time, just count how
many natural, effortless breaths you take in a minute. Be sure to breathe as normally and
naturally as possible. Each inhalation and exhalation cycle is considered one breath. The
number of breathes in one minute is your respiration rate. Record the number of breaths
you take per minute in the Assess Your Stress table.
Stress-o-meter
Another self-assessment is the Stress-o-meter. Think back over the last month of your life.
Include all of your waking moments, as you think back. Give yourself a rating according to
the following scale. A score of “1” would indicate that you feel your life has been relatively
stress-free during that period. You have felt blissful, calm, peaceful and serene at all times.
You have been able to adapt and “flow” with situations as they arise. A “10” score would
mean that you felt very high anxiety most of the time. You may have had periods bordering
on neurosis, suicidal, or very depressed feelings. A score of 10 would mean that this was a
month packed with high levels of stress.
Considering the last month as one single period of time, it is most likely that you would rank
yourself somewhere between these two extremes. If you were to average the month (we all
have highs and lows), what number would you give yourself on this scale from 1 to 10? Make
a note of this number on the Assess Your Stress Table. We will refer to this number again
later.
Assess Your Stress Results
Many factors are involved in determining a general level of stress. A couple physiological
measures that relate to increased stress are increased heart rate and increased respiration
rate. While there are many factors that affect these rates, you will learn in chapter three
why the stress response can increase your pulse and respiration rates. The average pulse
rate for an adult is approximately 70-80 beats per minute. The average respiration rate is
around 12-16 breaths per minute. A faster heart beat or breathing rate might be an indicator
of higher than desired stress levels.
Were you primarily a chest breather or an abdominal breather? Many of us are primarily
chest, or thoracic, breathers. Chest breathers tend to take shallower breathes.
Diaphragmatic, or abdominal, breathing involves the abdominal muscles to facilitate deeper
breathing. This allows you to take in more oxygen with each breath. Later you will learn
more about why deep breathing is effective as an important relaxation technique.
Your perception of stress primarily determines how your body responds. The Stresso-meter increases your awareness of the level of stress you perceive in your life. When we
exercise we can follow a perceived exertion scale that will give us some idea of how hard we
are exercising. We can determine our intensity level. Similarly, we can use the Stress-ometer to assess our general levels of perceived stress over the past month. You will learn
later in the book how your perception of stress relates to your health and your physiological
responses. Your body responds the same, whether the stress is real or imagined, so your
perception becomes your reality.
Now, look back over your results recorded in the Assess Your Stress Table. What does this
information tell you about your stress level?
Research Highlight - Stress Seems to Block Deep Sleep
Stress may disrupt the natural rhythms of the body's nervous system during various stages
of sleep, according to a University of Pittsburgh study in the journal Psychosomatic
Medicine. This study found stressed sleepers wake up more often while they are sleeping
and have fewer episodes of deep sleep. The link between daytime stress and restless sleep
is well established, but scientists are still investigating the exact ways that stress affects
sleep.
Researchers monitored the heart rates of 59 healthy undergraduate students while they
slept. Heart rate variations can provide clues about the activity of the autonomic nervous
system, which controls the function of organs such as the heart and lungs. To trigger stress
during sleep, the researchers told half of the students they would have to deliver a 15minute speech when they woke up. The topics would be chosen for them upon awakening,
the students were told.
The researchers detected significant heart rate variations between the stressed and nonstressed students as they slept. The stressed group had changes in heart rate patterns
during REM, or rapid-eye-movement, sleep - the sleep phase when dreaming occurs - and
non-REM sleep. The heart rate variability patterns detected in the stressed students were
similar to those seen in people with insomnia, the study revealed, suggesting similar
pathways of nervous system disruption. (University of Pittsburgh, news release, Feb. 5,
2004)
Symptoms of Stress
How frequently do you find yourself experiencing such problems as headaches, problems
going to sleep or staying asleep, unexplained muscle pain, jaw pain, uncontrolled anger, and
frustration? Using the table below, assess the frequency that you experience these common
symptoms of stress.
Frequency of symptoms
Symptoms
Almost all
day,
every day
X
Once or
twice
daily
Every
night or
day
2-3 times
per week
Once a
week
Once a
month
Never
Headaches
X
Tense
muscles, sore
neck and back
X
Fatigue
X
Anxiety, worry,
phobias
Difficulty falling
asleep
X
X
Irritability
X
Insomnia
Bouts of
anger/hostility
Boredom,
depression
X
Eating too
much or too
little
Diarrhea,
cramps, gas,
constipation
Restlessness,
itching, tics
X
X
The more often you experience these symptoms of stress, the more likely stress is having a
negative impact on your life. Like Angie in our opening vignette, you may be so used to
feeling a certain way that you assume this is normal. Look back over the Symptoms of Stress
Table. Are there symptoms of stress that you would like to eliminate or change? In later
chapters you will learn proven strategies to help eliminate the negative symptoms of stress.
FYI - Lesson From the Titanic
The blockbuster movie Titanic has a health lesson for us all. The captain of that mighty ship
was warned six separate times to slow down, change course and take the southern route
because icebergs had been sighted. But, he ignored all six specific warnings, lulled into
complacency of believing that the ship was unsinkable. The lesson is listen to your body
when it sends you signals. Symptoms and changes are warnings that you should slow down,
change course, or take another route.
Perceived Stress Scale
A more precise measure of personal stress can be determined by using a variety of
instruments that have been designed to help measure individual stress levels. The first of
these is called the Perceived Stress Scale
The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) is a classic stress assessment instrument. This tool, while
originally developed in 1983, remains a popular choice for helping us understand how
different situations affect our feelings and our perceived stress. The questions in this scale
ask about your feelings and thoughts during the last month. In each case, you will be asked
to indicate how often you felt or thought a certain way. Although some of the questions are
similar, there are differences between them and you should treat each one as a separate
question. The best approach is to answer fairly quickly. That is, don't try to count up the
number of times you felt a particular way; rather indicate the alternative that seems like a
reasonable estimate.
For each question choose from the following alternatives:
0 - never
1 - almost never
2 - sometimes
3 - fairly often
4 - very often
__1__ 1. In the last month, how often have you been upset because of something that
happened unexpectedly?
__0___ 2. In the last month, how often have you felt that you were unable to control the
important things in your life?
___2__ 3. In the last month, how often have you felt nervous and stressed?
__3___ 4. In the last month, how often have you felt confident about your ability to handle
your personal problems?
__3___ 5. In the last month, how often have you felt that things were going your way?
__1___ 6. In the last month, how often have you found that you could not cope with all the
things that you had to do?
__2___ 7. In the last month, how often have you been able to control irritations in your life?
__4___ 8. In the last month, how often have you felt that you were on top of things?
___1__ 9. In the last month, how often have you been angered because of things that
happened that were outside of your control?
__1___ 10. In the last month, how often have you felt difficulties were piling up so high that
you could not overcome them?
Figuring your PSS score:
You can determine your PSS score by following these directions:
First, reverse your scores for questions 4, 5, 7, & 8. On these 4 questions, change the scores
like this: 0 = 4, 1 = 3, 2 = 2, 3 = 1, 4 = 0.
Now add up your scores for each item to get a total. My total score is __10____.
Individual scores on the PSS can range from 0 to 40 with higher scores indicating higher
perceived stress.
Scores ranging from 0-13 would be considered low stress.
Scores ranging from 14-26 would be considered moderate stress.
Scores ranging from 27-40 would be considered high perceived stress.
The Perceived Stress Scale is interesting and important because your perception of what is
happening in your life is most important. Consider the idea that two students, John and Dan,
could have the exact same events and experiences in their lives for the past month.
Depending on their perception, John's total score could put him in the low stress category
and Dan's total score could put him in the high stress category. Consider the words of Ralph
Waldo Emerson, “Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.”
The Inventory of College Students' Recent Life Experiences
Another useful scale used to measure stress levels in a different way is called The Inventory
of College Students' Recent Life Experiences (ICSRLE). The ICSRLE was designed to identify
individual exposure to sources of stress or hassles and allow for an identification of the
extent to which those stressors are experienced over the past month. The ICSRLE was
developed uniquely for college students. As you know, the sources of stress in a university
environment can be unique and different from other settings.
What do college students typically perceive to be the major sources of stress? The ICSRLE is
helpful in assessing the major sources of stress and in identifying individual exposure to
sources of stress or hassles. This inventory also allows for an identification of the extent to
which those stressors are experienced over the past month.
The following is a list of experiences which many students have some time or other. Please
indicate for each experience how much it has been a part of your life over the past month.
Mark your answers according to the following guide:
Intensity of Experience over the Past Month
0 = not at all part of my life
1 = only slightly part of my life
2 = distinctly part of my life
3 = very much part of my life
__3__1. Conflicts with boyfriend's/girlfriend's/spouse's family
__2__2. Being let down or disappointed by friends
__0__3. Conflict with professor(s)
__0__4. Social rejection
__0__5. Too many things to do at once
__0__6. Being taken for granted
__0__7. Financial conflicts with family members
__0__8. Having your trust betrayed by a friend
__3__9. Separation from people you care about
_0___10. Having your contributions overlooked
_0___11. Struggling to meet your own academic standards
__0__12. Being taken advantage of
_1___13. Not enough leisure time
_0___14. Struggling to meet the academic standards of others
_3___15. A lot of responsibilities
_0___16. Dissatisfaction with school
__3__17. Decisions about intimate relationship(s)
__0__18. Not enough time to meet your obligations
_2___19. Dissatisfaction with your mathematical ability
_3___20. Important decisions about your future career
__3__21. Financial burdens
_0___22. Dissatisfaction with your reading ability
_0___23. Important decisions about your education
_2___24. Loneliness
__0__25. Lower grades than you hoped for
_0___26. Conflict with teaching assistant(s)
_2___27. Not enough time for sleep
__1__28. Conflicts with your family
_0___29. Heavy demands from extracurricular activities
__0__30. Finding courses too demanding
__0__31. Conflicts with friends
__0__32. Hard effort to get ahead
__0__33. Poor health of a friend
_0___34. Disliking your studies
_0___35. Getting “ripped off” or cheated in the purchase of services
__0__36. Social conflicts over smoking
__0__37. Difficulties with transportation
__0__38. Disliking fellow student(s)
__3__39. Conflicts with boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse
__0__40. Dissatisfaction with your ability at written expression
__1__41. Interruptions of your school work
__0__42. Social isolation
__1__43. Long waits to get service (e.g., at banks, stores, etc.)
__0__44. Being ignored
__2__45. Dissatisfaction with your physical appearance
_0___46. Finding course(s) uninteresting
__0__47. Gossip concerning someone you care about
__3__48. Failing to get expected job
__1__49. Dissatisfaction with your athletic skills
Scoring the ICSRLE
Add your total points: ___39_____
Your score on the ICSRLE can range from 0 to 147. Higher scores indicate higher levels of
exposure to hassles. Focus on two key outcomes from your results. First, you can determine
your current level of stress by adding your score for each hassle and getting a total. Second,
you can discover which of the hassles play a greater part in your life. Higher scored items
that you rated with a 3 indicate those stressors are more of an issue for you.
The Ardell Wellness Stress Test
Don Ardell developed a stress assessment that is unique in its holistic approach to stress. In
chapter one, you learned about the importance of incorporating all dimensions of health in
your understanding of stress. The Ardell Wellness Stress Test incorporates physical, mental,
emotional, spiritual, and social aspects of health for a balanced assessment.
Rate your satisfaction with each of the following items by using this scale:
+ 3 = Ecstatic -1 = Mildly disappointed
+ 2 = Very happy - 2 = Very disappointed
+ 1 = Mildly happy - 3 = Completely dismayed
0 = Indifferent
__3___ 1. Choice of career
___3__ 2. Present job/ business/ school
__-3___ 3. Marital status
__-2___ 4. Primary relationships
___-1__ 5. Capacity to have fun
__1___ 6. Amount of fun experienced in last month
__1___ 7. Financial prospects
__-3___ 8. Current income level
___0__ 9. Spirituality
__1___ 10. Level of self-esteem
___1__ 11. Prospects for having impact on those who know you and possibly others
__-3___ 12. Sex life
__-1___ 13. Body, how it looks and performs
__-1___ 14. Home life
__1___ 15. Life skills and knowledge of issues and facts unrelated to your job or profession
__1___ 16. Learned stress management capacities
__2___ 17. Nutritional knowledge, attitudes, and choices
__1___ 18. Ability to recover from disappointment, hurts, setbacks, and tragedies
__3___ 19. Confidence that you currently are, or will in the future be, reasonably close to
your highest potential
___1__ 20. Achievement of a rounded or balanced quality in your life
__3___ 21. Sense that life for you is on an upward curve, getting better and fuller all the
time
__2___ 22. Level of participation in issues and concerns beyond your immediate interests
__2___ 23. Choice whether to parent or not and with the consequences or results of that
choice
__1___ 24. Role in some kind of network of friends, relatives, and/or others about whom you
care deeply and who reciprocate that commitment to you
__2___ 25. Emotional acceptance of the inescapable reality of aging
Total __15____
Ardell Wellness Stress Test Interpretation
+ 51 to + 75 You are a self-actualized person, nearly immune from the ravages of stress.
There are few, if any, challenges likely to untrack you from a sense of near total well-being.
+ 25 to + 50 You have mastered the wellness approach to life and have the capacity to deal
creatively and efficiently with events and circumstances.
+ 1 to + 24 You are a wellness-oriented person, with an ability to prosper as a whole person,
but you should give a bit more attention to optimal health concepts and skill building.
0 to - 24 You are a candidate for additional training in how to deal with stress. A sudden
increase in potentially negative events and circumstances could cause a severe emotional
setback.
- 25 to - 50 You are a candidate for counseling. You are either too pessimistic or have severe
problems in dealing with stress.
- 51 to - 75 You are a candidate for major psychological care with virtually no capacity for
coping with life's problems.
(Adapted from High Level Wellness: An Alternative to Doc, Drugs and Disease by Don Ardell)
Look back at the items in the Ardell Wellness Stress Test. Identify which items related more
to physical health, to mental health, to emotional health, to spiritual health, and to social
health. Do you see any patterns develop? For instance, are more areas of disappointment
related to physical health than to social health? Remember, for holistic health we are
seeking a balance in all dimensions of health.
Student Stress Scale
This chapter offers a variety of stress assessment tools to assist you in assessing
stress from several different perspectives. The Student Stress Scale focuses on events that
may occur in the life of a student to offer you a different perspective for evaluating stress.
The Student Stress Scale is an adaptation for college students of the Life Events Scale
developed originally by Holmes and Rahe. This popular stress assessment measured the
amount of change, using Life Change Units, a person was required to adapt to in the
previous year. It was designed to predict the likelihood of disease and illness following
exposure to stressful life events. Each life event is given a score that indicates the amount
of readjustment a person has to make as a result of change. Some studies have found that
people with serious illnesses tend to have higher scores on similar assessments.
For each event that occurred in your life within the past year, record the corresponding
score. If an event occurred more than once, multiply the score for that event by the number
of times the event occurred and record that score. Total all the scores.
Life Event
Mean Value
1. Death of a close family member
100
2. Death of a close friend
73
3. Divorce of parents
65
4. Jail term
63
5. Major personal injury or illness
(63)
63
6. Marriage
58
7. Getting fired from a job
50
8. Failing an important course
47
9. Change in the health of a family member
45
10. Pregnancy
45
11. Sex problems
44
12. Serious argument with a close friend
(40)
40
13. Change in financial status
(39)
39
14. Change of academic major
39
15. Trouble with parents
39
16. New girlfriend or boyfriend
37
17. Increase in workload at school
37
18. Outstanding personal achievement
36
19. First quarter/semester in college
(36)
36
20. Change in living conditions
31
21. Serious argument with an instructor
30
22. Getting lower grades than expected
29
23. Change in sleeping habits
29
24. Change in social activities
29
25. Change in eating habits
28
26. Chronic car trouble
(26)
26
27. Change in number of family get-togethers
26
28. Too many missed classes
25
29. Changing colleges
24
30. Dropping more than one class
23
31. Minor traffic violations
20
Total Stress Score ___204_____
Score Interpretation:
Researchers determined that if your total score is:
300 or more - statistically you stand an almost 80 percent chance of getting sick in the near
future.
150 to 299 - you have a 50-50 chance of experiencing a
serious health change within two years.
149 or less - you have about a 30 percent chance of a serious health change.
This scale indicates that change in one's life requires an effort to adapt and then an effort to
regain stability. Stress is a natural by product of adapting and then regaining internal
homeostasis. Take note that this assessment considers only the events that occur, not
individual perception of these events in life. Perception is a critical part of the ultimate
stress experience, so while the Student Stress Scale has value in increasing awareness of
potential stress-producing events, ultimately individual perception of the event is an
important variable.
Tombstone Test
When all is said and done, one of the most important assessments may be the Tombstone
Test. How do you want to be remembered? Do you want to be remembered for being a
workaholic? Do you want to be remembered as the one who always won the argument? Do
you want to be remembered for making more money than your neighbor? Do you want to be
the one who never forgave someone who wronged you? Or, do you want to be remembered
as a good parent, spouse, and friend? Do you want to be remembered as someone who was
whole and balanced in body, mind, and spirit? Do you want to be remembered for the
service you provided to those who needed help?
Take a few minutes right now to write down how you want to be remembered.
I would like to be remembered as a good parent, girlfriend, and friend.
What do want others to say and think about you when your life is over?
That I am really missed, but that they will not be sad.
Make a list of the qualities and characteristics you want to be remembered for.
Good listener, great worker, good mother to her two boys, good daughter,
someone who NEVER gave up on her DREAMS.
Are you living your life in a way that demonstrates the qualities and characteristics you
value?
I think I am but there is always room to grow, and I will continue to
develop my characteristics until the day that I am no longer standing on
this earth.
The choices you make every single day determine to a large extent the stress you
experience. Your daily work, which at times can feel like drudgery, can actually become a
significant stress managing mechanism when you view your work as part of your contribution
to bigger priorities. Thinking about today, this minute, the task at hand in a positive manner
can bring peace and contentment. There is a story about two people laying bricks. A man
passing by asks, “What are you doing?” The first worker answers, “Laying bricks.” The other
worker answers, “Building a cathedral.”
Assess what is most important in your life.
My family is the most important to me.
When your choices are guided by the values and goals that are most important to you, your
life can be full and active, yet not stressful. Decide how you want to be remembered - and
then live your life so that happens.
Daily Stress Log
The final activity in this chapter is the Daily Stress Log. Chances are many of you have
completed a Food Diary at some time. The purpose of the food diary is to record everything
you eat to increase your awareness of what you are eating. The information you enter in
your diary can be analyzed for its calorie level and nutritional content. This information
helps you evaluate your diet.
The Daily Stress Log serves the same purpose only relating to your stress. For several days,
you will make a note of any and all activities that put a strain on energy and time, trigger
anger or anxiety, or precipitate a negative physical response. You can also note your
reactions to these stressful events.
When you have completed a daily log for a few days, review the log and identify 2 or 3
stressful events or activities that you can modify or eliminate. It has been said that
awareness is half the battle. As you keep track of all of the events that happen during a day,
and you notice patterns in which you find yourself getting more stressed, you can begin to
take steps to make adjustments in those damaging patterns. The following is an example of
a Daily Stress Log.
Daily Stress Log
Name:________Regina Digregorio___________________ Date:__________________
Source of
Tension
Stress
level*
Coping
Time ....Place....
strategy.....................
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*Tension level .........................1 = Slight 2 = Moderate 3 = Strong 4 = Intense
Major source of stress today: ______________________________
Assessment of how you managed stress today: ________________________
______________________________________________________________
The Daily Stress Log can be a real eye-opener in helping you become aware of triggers of
stress throughout your day. Watch for patterns that develop. Do you notice that your stress
level rises every time your roommate's boyfriend comes over and plops himself down in your
favorite chair? Do you find that you always feel stressed after you and your friend consume
an entire family-sized pizza? Do you notice that the days that seemed filled with stress and
the days you seem least able to cope with the stressors that occur are the days after your
stay up late enjoying the all-you-can-drink specials at the bar?
Take a moment to summarize the results of each of the self-assessments in this chapter in
the table below. Circle either “High” or “Low” according how much each assessment
indicates high or low levels of stress for you. For example, a higher resting heart rate may
indicate higher stress levels; chest breathing rather than stomach breathing may indicate
higher stress levels; increased number of breaths per minute might indicate higher stress
levels. If you are consistently circling the “High” indicator, extra effort in the chapters of
this book may be helpful in reducing the potentially harmful effects of stress.
Personal Self Assessment Summary
# of Stress
Ardell Student
Breathing: breaths -o- Symptoms
Stress Stress
RHR:
stomach
per meter: of Stress PSS ICSRLE Test
Scale
#/minute or chest minute 1-10
Score Score Score Score Score
Your Score
Indicator of
75
12
7
10
10
39
15
204
High
High
High
High
High
High
High
High
High
Low
Low
Low
Low
Low
Low
Low
Low
Low
higher or
lower levels
of stress
Conclusion
Assessing stress is a complex and challenging process. In this chapter you have had the
opportunity to assess your stress from many different perspectives. Look back over each of
the assessment surveys and tools. You will see that these tools measured stress from a
variety of perspectives including:

Physiological indicators of stress

Your perception of what is happening in your life

Sources of stress and frequency of hassles

Your level of satisfaction with events in your life

Type of life events you have experienced
The real impact of this chapter is in what you do with the information you learned about
yourself. It is like putting a puzzle together. Each of the assessments is like a piece of the
puzzle. When you put all the pieces together you have a complete picture. Stress
Management for Life will provide you with all the tools and information you need to develop
a plan that will help reduce stress and enhance the quality of your life.
Key Points

Assessment is the first important step in developing a plan to reduce and
manage stress.

Stress can trigger physiological changes like increased pulse and increased
respiration rate.

Symptoms of stress can include headache, muscle tension, insomnia and a
host of other warning signs.

Perception is key when assessing stress. The same situation can elicit a very
different stress response in different individuals due to the individual's
perception of the experience.

Frequency of exposure to different stressors and hassles can be another way
to measure stress.

For a balanced picture of stress in your life, consider all dimensions of
health, physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and social.

A daily stress log can be a valuable tool for increasing your awareness of
stress in your life.

No single survey or tool can tell the whole picture when it comes to
assessing stress. Consider the results from all the assessments to gain a
better understanding of your personal stress level.