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Health and Medicine - What Are The Leading Causes Of Stress?

What are the leading causes of stress?

The scale presented below contains the partial results from a 1967 study on the correlation between significant life events and the onset of illness. In the study, Thomas H. Holmes and Richard H. Rahe from the University of Washington compiled a chart of the major causes of stress, with assigned point values. They published their findings on stress effects as "The Social Readjustment Scale," printed in The Journal of Psychosomatic Research.

The researchers calculated that a score of 150 points indicated a 50 percent chance of the respondent developing an illness or a "health change." A score of 300 would increase the risk to 90 percent. Of course, many factors enter into an individual's response to a particular event, so this scale can only be used as a general guide.

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Event Point value

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