Rate your current stress across 7 key life areas. Takes about 2 minutes. Get a personalised stress profile and practical next steps.
This is a self-reflection tool, not a clinical assessment. If you're regularly overwhelmed, please speak with your GP. Crisis support: Samaritans 116 123 (free, 24/7).
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Area 1
Work / study pressure — deadlines, workload, job security
Relationships — conflicts, loneliness, family pressures
5
No stressExtreme stress
Area 4
Health — your own health, or worrying about the health of loved ones
5
No stressExtreme stress
Area 5
Daily life admin — household tasks, time pressure, never-ending to-do list
5
No stressExtreme stress
Area 6
Future uncertainty — worries about what's ahead, change, the unknown
5
No stressExtreme stress
Area 7
Personal wellbeing — feeling like you're not coping, loss of control
5
No stressExtreme stress
A proven stress management read. The Stress Management Workbook by Dr Teresa Lynch is recommended by UK therapists for building practical coping tools.
Stress affects different people in different areas of life. Research consistently shows that financial stress, work pressure and relationship difficulties are the three biggest contributors to chronic stress in UK adults (Mental Health Foundation, 2023).
Low-level stress is normal and can even be motivating. It's sustained high stress — particularly when it feels uncontrollable — that leads to burnout, anxiety and physical health problems. The key intervention points are: identifying your highest-stress areas, making small targeted changes in those areas, and building your general resilience and coping capacity.
Stress is typically a response to an external pressure — a deadline, a difficult conversation, financial trouble. When the stressor is removed, stress usually reduces. Anxiety persists even when there's no clear external threat — it's a state of worry and apprehension that can become a background condition. Both are treatable, and they often co-exist. Persistent anxiety warrants a conversation with your GP.
The best evidence supports: regular aerobic exercise (reduces cortisol significantly), progressive muscle relaxation, mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), social connection, sleep prioritisation, and cognitive restructuring (changing how you think about stressors). The NHS Talking Therapies programme (previously IAPT) offers free CBT which includes stress management — refer yourself at nhs.uk/talking-therapies.
See your GP if: stress is severely affecting your sleep for more than 4 weeks, you're using alcohol or other substances to cope, you're having thoughts of harming yourself, physical symptoms (headaches, chest tightness, digestive problems) are persistent, or you're unable to function at work or in relationships. GPs can offer referrals, medication, and access to NHS mental health services.