The emoticons shown above are used in social media as we put a visual label on how we are feeling at the moment.  Knowing how we are feeling at any given moment is important.  Did you know there is a scale to measure how you are feeling?  It works like a credit score works.

Television commercials continue to remind us that we each have a FICO credit score.  This score is designed to help lenders determine the likelihood that a borrower will repay a loan according to the terms established when the credit was granted.

 

As a chaplain, I have little use for the FICO score as I work with patients and visitors.  I do use the SRRS scale as I visit with patients.  It helps me assess how well the person is coping with the life events they are describing to me.  The SSRS is officially the “Social Readjustment Rating Scale”, more commonly known as the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale.  It was created to help us measure the stress load we carry, and think about what we should do about it.  The scale has 43 indicators.

 

I don’t literally ask people all 43 questions.  As they tell me about their situation, I listen and mentally tally a score associated with the life events they describe.  I use this to determine what tools of spiritual care would be most effective for them.  It also helps evaluate my frequency of visits, given I don’t have time to visit every patient every day.

 

• If your total score is in the 11-150 point range you have only a low to moderate stress level.
• If your total score is in the 150-299 point range you have a moderate to high stress level.
• If your total score is in the 300-600 point range you have a high or very high risk stress level.

If you would like to take the test yourself, you can find it at the website below:

 

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTCS_82.htm