Scores range from 20 to 140 points. Higher scores indicate a higher stress level.
Look below for stress reduction techniques.

 

If your score was 20 - 39 points:

With a score this low, statistics indicate that either you are not being totally honest or you are less than 18 years old. Children feel stress as well as adults (see article for details), but they neither describe them nor experience them in the same way adults do. However as adults get deeper into the adult world, we find ourselves with responsibilities and expectations that can create a stressed-out lifestyle. If your not currently feeling stressed out, it would be a good time to learn the basic elements of stress reduction, so that when your life becomes stressful, (it happens to us all at one point or another), you'll be prepared. There are three basic ways we can reduce life's stress: 1) change our environment; 2) change how we cope, or 3) change both. There are a variety of ways to do that, but fundamentally that's what we are dealing with. Look below for stress reduction techniques.

If your score was 40 - 65 points:

There are many things — anger management, time management, relaxation training, exercise, proper nutrition — that can be very effective in helping a person who is stressed become more proficient in managing stress. Although your score indicates that your ability to manage stress is fairly good, it might be helpful for you to look more closely at areas you feel some amount of stress on a regular basis such as at work.

For instance, some people believe they are good time managers but probably are not. They take few breaks and may have many 'minor' health complaints. Others might say, 'I'm very busy, I get a lot done, but I'm stressed out at the end of the day.' These are the people who are probably not managing time well in terms of stress and behavioral health risks. Better time-management would mean better management of stress and behavioral health risks. This, in turn, makes you more efficient at work. There are 3 basic ways to permanently reduce life's stress levels: 1) change our environment; 2) change how we cope, or 3) change both. Look below for stress reduction techniques.

If your score was 66 - 99 points:

When environmental demands exceed our ability to cope, it creates stress. Stress can then create symptoms or problems, or exacerbate existing medical conditions. Some people are well aware that their demands are too high and therefore their stress is high. But others tend to respond to stress with bodily complaints or complaints of anxiety, depression, or irritability. They may get headaches or chest pains. They go to their doctor, who may or may not recognize it as a stress-related problem. With a score this high, you may be experiencing some of these physical, stress-related symptoms. Before you get to the point that you think you're loosing it, try learning some stress reduction exercises like deep breathing. Give yourself 15 minutes of free time everyday to relax and get your mind off of responsibilities. Better yet, sit down and list all your responsibilities and prioritize them, figure out which ones you can delegate or get rid of. Then do it. There are 3 basic ways to permanently reduce life's stress levels: 1) change our environment; 2) change how we cope, or 3) change both. Your health and your life will be better for it. Look below for stress reduction techniques.

If your score was 100 - 140 points:

• If your score was this high, it would appear that either the stress in your life is too great for most people to deal with, or that your knowledge of stress reduction skills might need a booster. When someone is feeling this much stress, a few sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy is recommended. This type of treatment is much more individualized than some other types of therapy. In cognitive behavioral therapy you can focus on changing how you think about the stress and how you perceive stress. You can reframe your thinking in a much more positive way to minimize the negative effect of stress on your health. Your therapist can consider the possibility of other problems and help you attend to them as well. In the mean time, it is important that you look at the things in your life that bring you stress and figure out how you can reduce your load, or pass some of it on to someone else. There are 3 basic ways to permanently reduce life's stress levels: 1) change your environment; 2) change how you cope, or 3) change both. Stop trying to be a Human Doing instead of a Human Being!

Look below for stress reduction techniques.

 

Breathing exercises and physical exercise are important first steps toward reducing your stress level. Practicing a deep breathing exercise can be calming and energizing and can even help with stress-related health problems such as panic attacks or digestive disorders. Here is a breathing exercise I often recommended to my clients for stress reduction:

1. Sit up, with your back straight or lie flat on a padded floor.
2. Place your tongue against the roof of your mouth, just behind your upper front teeth and keep it there throughout the exercise.
3. Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound.
4. Close your mouth and inhale quietly through your nose to a slow count of four.
5. Hold your breath for a count of seven.
6. Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound to a count of eight.
7. Repeat this cycle three more times for a total of four breaths.

Try to do this breathing exercise at least twice a day. You can repeat the whole sequence as often as you wish, but don't do more than four breaths at one time for the first month of practice. (This exercise is fairly intense and has a profound effect on the nervous system -- (with this exercise, more is not better). This exercise is the most powerful tool I know for stress management.

 

I recommend regular aerobic activity to help eliminate stress. A brisk walk for at least 15 minutes qualifies. Work up to exercising for thirty minutes, five days a week. Biking, swimming, jumping rope, or bouncing on a trampoline, are alternatives for keeping an aerobic workout from becoming boring.

EMDR, Recommended Therapy for Post traumatic Stress
- an article from Dr. Weil -

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, (PTSD) has been popularized by Hollywood and the media as an affliction of soldiers. The horrors of war continue to haunt them and cause havoc in their lives. But any survivor of a traumatic event can suffer from PTSD. The disorder is characterized by anxiety, phobias, difficulty concentrating and nightmares like you describe. Frankly, it's a tough one to treat.

However, in the last several years a technique called Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) has been turning heads in the field as a way of "digesting" the disturbing emotions and processing the memories.

The technique was first developed by the clinical psychologist Francine Shapiro, Ph.D., who noticed that whenever a disturbing thought entered her mind, her eyes would move back and forth. This movement seemed to shift the disturbing thought from her consciousness, and when she brought the thought back to mind again, it wasn't as bothersome. Dr. Shapiro then began testing her theories on survivors of combat and sexual abuse, with positive results. Recently, the efficacy of the treatment has been supported by a number of controlled studies. About 22,000 practitioners offer it nationwide -- from private offices to emergency shelters.

When using EMDR, a therapist typically asks the patient to bring to mind an image of the traumatic memory and to experience the negative emotions that go with it. While doing so, the patient moves his or her eyes quickly back and forth following the therapist's hand. This is the “desensitization” phase. Then it’s another set of eye movements, but this time the patient is asked to think positive thoughts. After each set the patient discusses his or her thoughts and feelings with the therapist.

No one is quite sure how EMDR works, however. Even Dr. Shapiro, who coauthored "EMDR: The Breakthrough Therapy for Overcoming Anxiety, Stress and Trauma" (Basic Books, 1997), can only speculate. One theory asserts that traumatic events differ from normal events in the way the brain processes them. What the eye movement appears to do is facilitate desensitization to the painful memory, helping the brain "digest" the event.

EMDR can be an incredibly emotional process and should be done only with a qualified practitioner. I have no direct experience with the practice, but it looks like a nonharmful, noninvasive method that may work and is definitely worth trying. For a referral to a certified practitioner, contact the EMDR Institute, PO Box 51010, Pacific Grove, CA, 93950 or call (408) 372-3900.

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