The Holmes and Rahe Social Readjustment Rating Scale

When you are working on your personal healing, it is very important to know where you are on the stress scale. If your stress is very high, you will want to take more actions to take better care of yourself while you are going through major change.

Death of spouse

100

 

Divorce

73

 

 

Marital separation

65

 

 

Jail term

63

 

 

Death of close family member

63

 

 

Personal injury or illness

53

 

 

Marriage

50

 

 

Fired at work

47

 

 

Marital reconciliation

45

 

 

Retirement

45

 

 

Change in health of family member

44

 

 

Pregnancy

40

 

 

Sex difficulties

39

 

 

Gain of new family member

39

 

 

Business readjustment

39

 

 

Change in financial state

38

 

 

Death of close friend

37

 

 

Change to a different line of work

36

 

 

Change in number of arguments with spouse

35

 

 

A large mortgage or loan

31

 

 

Foreclosure of mortgage or loan

30

 

 

Change in responsibilities at work

29

 

 

Son or daughter leaving home

29

 

 

Trouble with in-laws

29

 

 

Outstanding personal achievement

28

 

 

Spouse begins or stops work

26

 

 

Begin or end school/college

26

 

Change in living conditions

25

 

 

Revision of personal habits

24

 

 

Trouble with boss

23

 

 

Change in work hours or conditions

20

 

 

Change in residence

20

 

 

Change in school/college

20

 

 

Change in recreation

19

 

 

Change in church activities

19

 

 

Change in social activities

18

 

 

A moderate loan or mortgage

17

 

 

Change in sleeping habits

16

 

 

Change in number of family get-togethers

15

 

 

Change in eating habits

15

 

 

Vacation

13

 

 

Christmas

12

 

 

Minor violations of the law

11

Note: If you experienced the same event more than once, then to gain a more accurate total, add the score again for each extra occurrence of the event.

Score Interpretation

300+

You have a high or very high risk of becoming ill in the near future.

150-299

You have a moderate to high chance of becoming ill in the near future.

<150

You have only a low to moderate chance of becoming ill in the near future.

This table is taken from “The Social Readjustment Rating Scale”, Thomas H. Holmes and Richard H. Rahe, Journal of Psychosomatic Research, Volume 11, Issue 2, August 1967, Pages 213-218, Copyright © 1967 Published by Elsevier Science Inc.

Sometimes it is very helpful to have a left-brain understanding of what you are actually processing. You can use this scale also to understand your friends and loved ones.

If you are under more stress, that means you will need to take even better care of yourself. As we say in my yoga class, thank God for yoga! I would also thank God for qi gong, meditation, tai chi, my hammock, my dog Belle and days off to rest. Come in for Reiki or reflexology or schedule an appointment for kinesiology or life coaching to clear the emotions behind your stress.