Questionnaire: Are You Stressed?

We all lead busy, stressful lives so we need to acknowledge that there may be times when the pressure to perform and produce will become intense. It is in these moments that we feel overwhelmed, and stress manifests in a number of unpleasant ways. Tempers may flare, frustration will rise and our mood will become far more unpredictable. But how do you know if its stress that is causing the shift in our behaviour and temperament?

1. You Have an Important Presentation to Make to Colleagues at Work, in the Morning. How do You Spend the Evening?

a) Relaxing in front of the tv with a bottle of wine and your favourite snacks.
b) Pestering friends and family members to sit and make comments as you rehearse your presentation for the 100th time.
c) Taking a soothing bath, eating a light meal and scribbling a few pointers on notecards. You’ll probably have an early night too.

2. When You Pause to Think About the State of the World and All the Bad News in the Media, How Does it Make You Feel?

a) You feel anxious about how you’ll be able to keep up with the cost of living and vow to not watch any more current affairs or news programmes.
b) You catch yourself sighing, with a sense of ‘que sera sera’.
c) The fear of not having enough to survive brings you out in a cold sweat. You automatically start planning how to financially tighten your belt, whilst mentally totting up how much you have in savings and how you can raise more cash.

3. How Often do You Have a Sudden Angry Outburst?

a) It’s not an outburst, it’s a letting off of steam! Surely expressing feelings on a regular basis is a healthy thing to do?
b) When things really get on top of you having a bit of a moan, cry or temper tantrum just gets the better of you. As it’s such a rare occurrence though, you’re not really concerned about it because you know how to deal with the daily problems that challenge you.
c) What’s the point in getting all worked up about nothing? If you can’t laugh at the absurdities of life then something is wrong.

4. You’ve Had a Bad Day at Work. What do You Have for Dinner at Home?

a) Depends what there is in the fridge. You’re a dab hand at rustling up a quick, healthy and tasty meal in no time.
b) Takeaway pizza with garlic bread and a litre of fizzy stuff. And if there’s still room a tub of your favourite ice-cream for dessert.
c) Maybe you’ll give the diet a miss tonight, and indulge in some comfort food. Tomorrow is a brand new day so you’ll get back on track with the healthy eating and your mood will improve.

1 a) 5 b) 10 c) 0

2 a) 5 b) 0 c) 10

3 a) 10 b) 5 c) 0

4 a) 0 b) 10 c) 5

0-10 You are so laidback and unaffected by everything going on around you that you’d have to get the dictionary out to check the meaning of stress. You take things in your stride and generally deal with any hitches or problems in a relaxed manner. You know how to enjoy your life, but it’s always good to stretch yourself a little.

11-25 You have been known to get a little flustered from time to time, but on the whole you know you can confidently handle most things life throws at you. Occasionally your mood is affected by work-related pressure or by personal issues, but once you’ve identified the cause you can get a grip of the situation.

26 – 40 You get stressed just reading the word stress. You feel there aren’t enough hours in the day and that your workload is double everyone else’s. You wake up feeling anxious and your mood gets decidedly darker as the day progresses. You’d take a holiday but how would everyone cope without you? You need to take time out to reassess your life before stress starts impacting on your health.