Poll Average frequency of stressors

[Fadeaway]

I have more to say on the topic but wanted to get a feel for how often major life stressors generally occur for people

 

[SeanCharles]

I am dealing with a pretty full plate with everything I am working on. I am looking forward to this! :)

 

[Lionheart]

To my mind, there are two classes of major stressors; those related to trauma(s) and general life stressors.

For example; anything over which I have no control (trauma-related) has the potential to be a major stressor for me and can be frequent, while deaths, births, marriages etc. and general life stressors are less frequent.......So, I am not sure how to vote on this.

 

[scout86]

So, I am not sure how to vote on this.

Me too. I'm sitting here wondering what the actual definition of "major" is. :)

 

[FragileGlass]

To my mind, there are two classes of major stressors; those related to trauma(s) and general life s...

I agree with your categorization, this is hard to answer. My line of work is the cause of my overall stress. Usually multiple times per shift.

 

[EveHarrington]

I can't vote because I don't know what qualifies as major.

 

[Fadeaway]

I was going to add in a link when I started this but changed my mind because some of what they listed as major stressors, I viewed as minor or as as traumatic. and I am looking at stressors not trauma.

I will just put a couple of links here, but I think more importantly, is what you view to be a major stressor. If it impacts you in a major way and disrupts your life and ability to cope with minor stressors, than it counts. So just because it isn't on one of these lists, doesn't mean that it doesn't count as major if it had a hefty impact on you.
https://www.dartmouth.edu/~eap/library/lifechangestresstest.pdf
Holmes and Rahe stress scale - Wikipedia
This last one includes some traumatic ones, but I am asking that you exclude traumas because that is a different topic.

Top 20 Life-Stressors That Can Trigger Anxiety And Sadness

 

[AngelKeeperJ]

I answered 3-5 times a year. That's an estimate of how life seems to be right now. From my teens, and into my late 40's, major stressors occurred nearly every year, but thankfully, life has slowed down. I think that the childbearing years tend to be the most stressful? Just because having to be a single parent was super difficult!
Good question and poll!

 

[Lionheart]

My answer is about every 6 months, which was not given as an option, but is closer to being accurate than monthly or yearly.

 

[Friday]

I've had some really good years... Where, yes, there were major stressors, but they came at "good" times, and were handled well. By "good" I don't really have a solid description... Because sometimes that means they were back to back to back, which made them very easily rolled up in the other stressors that were going on (coping mechanisms in full swing, and damage control liberally applied); and sometimes that means they were spaced out in such a way that my life easily absorbed the blow, and recovered, long before the next one hit.

And I've had bad years, where the stressors just kept knocking me over like waves, and then once my feet were out from under me? Rolled me. So thing went from bad to really bad to holy f*cking shit. They weren't necessarilly harder/worse stressors. It was more commonly a combo of bad timing & my life not being able to absorb the blow and recover.

In a lot of ways? It's like being punched. If my muscles were hard then it would barely affect me. If I was soft? I'd be bent over puking and gasping like a fish, flailing around half blind. So sometimes I could shrug off a single blow, or even repeated blows, and no worries. And other times, the first punch takes me out, or sets the stage for me to be completely defenseless against the next series of them. I'd love to use this to blame myself for not being strong enough, except it doesn't matter how fit you are if someone punches you in your sleep, or if you happen to be sick as hell, or just unlucky? Blow lands wrong? Goodnight Irene. Much like life.

Most of the people I know? Go through at least a few major stressors a year. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Some years have fewer, some have more. Some are harder or easier to deal with. I don't know anyone -well- who doesn't have at least a few major stressors a year. (Although I know a lot of people not well enough to be told about the hard things going on in their lives. Which, I think, is a mistake a lot of people make, in comparing themselves against other people. The whole "never judge your insides by someone else's outsides"... Has a lot to do with being privy to all the facts.)

 

[Changing4Best]

I have had 4 major life stressors, being molested as a young child, being bullied in school and being raped by a S.O. and being bullied as a Senior Citizen. Each of these things lasted for quite some time, but I did not list them that way, because during the time it was happening, it was daily, but there were a bunch of years between these incidents. Like 15 or so years, more or less, I guess. So I said every 15-20 years.