Stress Awareness – Just How Stressed Am I?

Levels of Stress

1. Level 1 is the ‘all is good’ level of stress, you are well rested, content with your place in life, your important relationships are going well, you have energy and time for things that interest you.  Any negative stress is quickly managed and easily handled.  Any mental or other health issues are well managed.  You are profoundly content.
2. Level 2 is the ‘most things are going good’ level of stress.  You are able to be resourced fairly easily, self care is going well.  Some challenges are more difficult.  You may have a few small problems with important relationships.  You may notice you are having a bad day here and there or a rough patch in your day, and they don’t last long.  Your mental or other health issues are manageable, though perhaps more negatively impacting than you are comfortable with.  Low priority things may be undoable.
3. Level 3 is the ‘I am doing ok, but it is taking some work’ level of stress.  You will notice that self care is becoming more difficult, you are using coping strategies that are less healthy.  You may feel under resourced and stretched.  Challenges are more significant and longer term.  You have one or more important relationship getting harder to maintain.  Your mental or other health issues are becoming more impactful in a way that is reducing your quality of life in a noticeable way.  Relationships may begin to be strained (you are withdrawing from your relationship bank).  Medium priority things may be undoable.
4. Level 4 is the ‘what the heck’ level of stress.  You are struggling to remain resourced, coping strategies are likely less healthy and there isn’t enough time or energy in the day to manage all that is going wrong.  You will likely be having significant strains in your important relationships.  If you are prone to mental or other health challenges then this is where you will be noticing them flair up in a life disrupting way.  People are noticing you are not doing well and no stress is good stress right now.  You may be emotionally upset easily and have a harder time being rational.  There is little that you enjoy, it is simply enough to get through the day.  High priority things may be undoable.
5. Level 5 is the ‘all hands on deck’ level of stress.  Life stops because you are no longer able to manage even the most important of day to day tasks/challenges.  Your mental or other health problems are significantly reducing the quality of your life.  You may feel ‘burnt out’.  At this point your relationships will begin to struggle and become difficult to maintain – you are high cost and low benefit to those around you.  Being resourced is a long distant memory.  At this point, if there is a light at the end of the tunnel, it is most certainly a train.

Stress Levels: How Much Support Do You Need

Are you Stressed? Do you need help?