The main causes of stress are listed below. Psychologists regard 300 points as being the breaking point for the average person. Eighty per cent of people with scores of over 300 and 53 per cent with scores between 150 and 300 are likely to suffer some form of stress-related illness.

Ranking

Activity	Value	Activity	Value
Death of spouse	100	Change of type of work	36
Divorce	73	Change in number of arguments with spouse	35
Legal separation from spouse	65	Mortgage above $100000	31
Jail sentence	63	Foreclosure of loan or mortgage	30
Death of close relative	63	Change in responsibilities at work	30
Personal injury or illness	53	Son or daughter leaving home	30
Getting married	50	Difficulties with spouse's relative	29
Losing job	47	Outstanding personal achievement	28
Reconciliation with spouse	45	Children starting or finishing school	26
Retirement	45	Change in living conditions	25
Change in health of close relative	44	Revision of personal habit	24
Pregnancy	40	Poor relation with work superior	23
Sexual problems	39	Change in work hours or condition	20
New addition to close familiy	39	Change of residence	20
Business readjustment	39	Mortgage less than $100000	17
Change in financial state	38	Holidays	12
Death of close friend	37	Christmas	11

Source: John Humphries, Managing Through People, How To Books, 1999