Stress Test

Test how well you are actually managing your current stress level

Everyone has stress. People pretty much know that they are stressed when they are.
Between worrying about paying your bills, enjoying your social life, problems with work,
concerns about family members, day to day hassles, and difficult people in your life,
there is a lot to be stressed about.

Rather than tell you that you are stressed (to which most people respond, yes, now tell
me something that I do not know.), this measure looks at how you are coping with the
stressors in your life. The mere presence of stress does not imply something problematic.
The key is how you react to the stress. The results will give you an assessment of how
well you are coping. You will receive information on how healthy your coping strategies
are.

Please complete all items. Rate each item on a scale of 1-5. Please choose one number
and do not write a decimal, such as 3.5. Select the answer that best represents your
feelings, thoughts, and behaviors regarding your responses to stress. Choose how true
each statement is for you.

1 2 3 4 5
Less True More True

Statement Response

1. Most days, I have at least a few thoughts that I feel I cannot control
about how overwhelmed I feel. ___________

2. I frequently find myself telling friends and family members how

incredibly stressed I feel. ___________

3. My common response to a high level of stress is to emotionally or

physically shut down. ___________

4. I know that I need to make some major changes to reduce my overall

stress, however, I have not yet done so. ___________

5. I am sure that other people are much better at coping with difficult
situations than I am. ___________

6. I often find myself dropping one of the many balls that I try to juggle. ___________
7. In the past month at least one person has told me that I need to learn
how to relax. ___________

8. When I become overwhelmed with responsibilities, I tend to stop

doing things for myself. For instance, I stop exercising, preparing
healthy meals, or spending time with friends. ___________

9. I often find myself daydreaming, procrastinating, or doing a mindless

activity when I need to take care of something, such as paying a bill. ___________

10. I frequently overeat or eat unhealthy foods such as fast food when I
am feeling stressed out. ___________

11. I commonly have thoughts like, maybe Im just not capable of

dealing with so much. ___________

12. When I feel weighed down, I have a tendency to take it out on others
by acting irritable, annoyed, or inpatient. ___________

13. When feeling a high degree of stress, I find that I drink more than
two drinks with caffeine or alcohol per day to either perk me up or
make me feel more relaxed. ___________

14. It is typical for me to avoid dealing with important activities if they

make me feel uncomfortable, nervous, or frustrated. ___________

15. I do not rely on any supportive people because I am afraid that they
will not understand what Im going through or that they are so busy
with their own lives that they will not want to hear what Im going
through. ___________

16. When I become stressed, I get a short fuse. I either yell at people
when Im driving, am short with salespeople, or argue with
colleagues at work. ___________

17. I know that I need to relax, and sometimes I try to, but I find that I do
not know how to unwind. ___________

18. It seems that my problem-solving skills are not so good. ___________

19. Others have told me that I engage in poor coping behaviors that do
not really help me to cope. ___________

20. On a typical day, I have several thoughts such as I do not even have
an idea where to start with all the things I need to do. ___________
21. I do not have a number of ideas of activities which are soothing,
enjoyable, or sociable for me. ___________

22. Some people close to me have recently told me that I am not my

usual self. ___________

23. I start to have physical problems when I feel stressed, such as

headaches, stomachaches, or muscle tension that I am not able to
relieve. ___________

24. I am not good at prioritizing tasks and I often feel like I need to do
everything right away. ___________

25. When I feel stressed, I tell myself that I should get more sleep, but
am often not able to. ___________

26. I avoid talking with people about all that I need to do because I am so
behind that I think it would be pointless to get into it. ___________

27. My coworkers or friends have said that I lose focus under pressure
and do not pay attention well when deadlines are looming. ___________

28. When there is too much to do, I let things pile up. The laundry piles
up, papers on my desk stack up, or phone calls to return collect on
my desk. ___________

29. I am sure that I am not someone who handles lifes many pressures as
well as other people do. ___________

30. Many times I think I am coping well with a stressful life, only to have
something happen that shows me I cannot manage the stress. ___________

Disclaimer: This assessment is not intended to provide a psychological or psychiatric

diagnosis and your completion of the test does not indicate a professional counseling or
coaching relationship with the administrators of the test.