Is stress affecting you?
Occasional memory lapses can be caused by stress.
If you are feeling stressed and anxious, try this quick test.
It will help you decide if you need to moderate your lifestyle
Or seek further help.
For each question,, score yourself:
Often = 2, Sometimes = 1, Rarely = 0
1. Are you easily irritated?
2. Do you lose your temper easily?
3. Do you feel tired and lack energy?
4. Do you have tension headaches?
5. Do you feel your memory is affected by tension?
6. Do you feel dissatisfied at home?
7. Is your body tense?
8. Do your relationships become strained and tense?
9. Have you stopped smiling very much?
10. Do you lack confidence?
11. Do you worry?
12. Are you unable to relax?
13. Don’t feel as good about yourself as you used to?
14. Can’t express your feelings as well as before?
15. Do you feel life is overwhelming?
16. Do you feel you can’t see the wood for the trees?
17. Do you have difficulty coping with everyday life?
My Total
Total each column and check your score below.
Now read Dr. Allison Lamont’s advice:
0 – 10
You are likely to be coping well at present and no aware of much stress in your life.
11 – 20
You appear to be moderately stressed at the moment. You may experience some difficult situations at present.
If you are handling them quite well, and can see solutions ahead, try to ensure you take time to relax with ‘time out’.
- Take time to walk or otherwise exercise.
- Read for pleasure
- Try to increase your deep sleep hours.
Is there anything you can change to relieve the stress?
Set goals to target these situations.
Tackle your goals one at a time until you feel the stress disappear.
21 – 30
You seem to be experiencing a significant level of stress at the moment.
It is important to moderate your lifestyle as soon as possible.
Deal with the stressors you are feeling and reduce your stress levels.
Perhaps it is time to talk to someone who can help you find solutions to the difficulties that are causing the stress?
- Take time to exercise more.
- Find space for pleasurable activities.
- Try relaxation or meditation techniques to reduce your stress.
- Make sure you have sufficient sleep.
Read further: Six Best Ways to Conquer Stress
Do share your stress-reducing strategies below – we all benefit from sharing ideas.
Interesting facts you provided about remembering things and how stress can be attributed to that. that was very helpful. My total from your quiz came to 16. Every time I can’t remember a name or something I should know the name of I always think I am getting dementia/alzheimers like my mother had, so this was reassuring that it is not necessarily so.
Thanks,
Barbara
Too much stress can certainly affect memory but I am glad you have found out that in most cases, it doesn’t mean Alzheimer’s. Many people worry about that, especially when it is in the family. You might find this article helpful and reassuring. https://www.brainfit.world/will-i-get-alzheimers-too/ Reducing stress is an important factor in improving your memory so keep looking for ways to do this, Barbara.
I scored 7 but felt some of the questions needed to be read in the context of my life so do not give an accurate picture. My husband died 5 years ago after 51 years of marriage and my life now is vastly different from how I pictured what old age would be like. Tension headaches occur infrequently but are related to my having to learn to do lots of things that were the domain of my husband eg fixing problems with the car and computer. My family live overseas so relationships are harder to sustain on skype or whatsapp. While I believe Iam a strong person and coping well my context is probably not that of the average person doing the quiz. So far my aged brain seems to be relatively intact.
That is a positive score, Christine, considering the changes in your life in recent years. The positive I see is that tackling all of those unfamiliar tasks has helped the development of new brain connections – and they are continuing to be activated every time you face a new challenge. Well done!
My score was huge! I have had a very pressured year. I will attend another BrainFit course in the New Year.
Self-awareness is very important and you have taken steps to realise what’s causing stress. Well done.
Try the ‘calming technique’ when things get tense. Close your eyes and, in your mind’s eye, see yourself take a step back. Inhale deeply, and as you slowly exhale say to yourself ‘Calm mind’. Visualize your mind calming and emptying itself of all the busy thoughts. Take another deep breath, and as you slowly exhale, say to yourself “Relaxed body”, feeling the tension leave your body and running out through your hands and feet. This strategy does give your brain a chance to recover from all of the cortisone and adrenaline running around your system.
I have a number of practices and activities, some for many years, to make sure I didn’t and don’t fall into the family history of heart attacks open heart surgery etc.
I belong to a singing group, we practice and sing for rest homes and at some church luncheons. Wonderful! I lead a weekly Christian meditation group, and until covid also a mindfulness meditation group. I read, and of course would wish for more time, less housework and home maintenance.
Daily I try to have 10 or 15 minutes of Tai Chi daily (bare foot on the grass, weather permitting) when I get up. Meditate for 30 minutes a.m. and p.m., lots of veggies from the husband’s garden and a number of other lesser changes, which in the last few years are allowing me to cut medications down to the lowest dose available for blood pressure control. Not big deal, just little changes, not hardships, have made life more enjoyable. I’m not skiting, nothing’s perfect. Receiving your monthly emails for years rates too, they remind me of the effort to keep alert and balanced, because I do lose words and forget much more than I used to! Thank you Gillian and the Brainfit team!
Thank you, Raewyn. There are so many fine examples of ways to live a healthy life here – and brain health will be greatly enhanced, also. I will keep several of these in mind as I make my own New Year resolutions!