Understanding Adjustment Psychology
Revealing Why Any Change – Happy or Sad – Can Be Stressful
Aug 14, 2008
“Adjustment” can be defined as a process of altering one's behavior to reach a harmonious relationship with their environment. This is typically a response brought about by some type of change that has taken place. The stress of this change causes one to try to reach a new type of balance or homeostasis between the individual (both inwardly and outwardly), and with their environment.
Adjustment occurs over time – in common speech, this is often refered to this as an “adjustment period”. The length and depth of the adjustment required is dependent upon the complexity of the change that catalyzed it, and the underlying resilience of both the person and their environment.
Psychiatrists Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe’s “Life Stress Inventory” is a standard questionnaire that names and measures major life stressors. It’s a result of their studies first conducted in the late 1960s, with the questionnaire being created in 1978. It has been – and still is -- in wide use.
Each of more than 40 life events has been given a numerical value in the inventory, with higher values given to more stressful events. The more profound the stress, the more profound the adjustment the person will be required to make in order to reach a new level of harmony. Each event can have a maximum of 100 points. For example, the most stressful life event this questionnaire lists is death of a spouse at 100 points, with a far lesser stress -- vacation -- at just 13.
Why Winning the Lottery Can Become Stressful
This insightful tool recognizes that stress comes from both positive and negative events. Notice the way some of the questions are worded. In many cases it describes the stressor simply as a “change” in circumstance, not that the change is necessarily a negative one. For example, “Change in financial state” (39 out of 100) is not worded “Negative turn in finances”. Holmes and Rahe stated this question this way because they found that both positive and negative change in finances produced stress. This is a central theme in Adjustment Psychology.
The idea that a financial windfall might be stressful seems unlikely on the surface – doesn’t it seems like a nice idea to have a large amount of cash suddenly in the bank? But this phenomenon is confirmed by the many stories of winners of huge lottery prizes experiencing enormous amounts of family stress, substance abuse, gambling, uncontrolled spending, and even bankruptcy as a direct result of their wins. Holmes and Rahe’s questionnaire recognizes the truth that it is the change itself that is the stressor, not necessarily the direction of the change.
Stress from Both Illness and Improved Health
It is easy to understand that someone becoming ill places stress upon the entire family, not just on the that individual. Surprisingly, Adjustment Psychology would say that the same is true when someone become well, particularly after a long or significant illness.
Holmes and Rahe list “change in health of family member,” giving it a score of 44 out of 100. Here they are consistent with the basic philosophy of Adjustment Psychology: any significant change produces significant stress. It is not necessarily the direction of that change that is critical when understanding the challenges to both patients and their families.
Understanding the stress a significant illness creates for patients, and offering them and their entire family supportive services is an enlightened development in healthcare over the last 20 years or so. Self-help support groups have also become a major movement, recognizing that adjustment to the changes that illness brings takes time, energy, and resources for all involved.
Related Resources:
Why Playing the Lottery Is a Bad Investment
Effects of Stress on Your Health
