Stress Management Factors

What does my Stress Management Score tell me?

Stress can affect your well-being, and your score can give you daily insight into your body's signs of stress. The score ranges from 1 to 100, where a higher number means your body is showing fewer physical signs of stress.

What affects my Stress Management Score?

Your stress is affected by your responsiveness, exertion balance, and sleep patterns measured by your device.

RESPONSIVENESS

When you're stressed, the autonomic nervous system (ANS) releases hormones to prepare you for a "fight or flight" response. This process can raise your heart rate, change your skin's sweat level and make you more alert or tense.

The stress responses that result from ANS activity can show up as physical signs of stress. To understand how active your ANS has been over the last several days, we look at:

  • Heart rate variability during deep sleep from the night before
  • Elevated heart rate while at rest from the day before
  • Sleeping heart rate above RHR from the night before
  • Electrodermal activity from the day before based on EDA Scan app (if available)

Responsiveness 23/30

A higher number means your body showed signs of low ANS activity over the last several days.

Responsiveness 10/30

A lower number means your ANS activity may be high. You may want to try relaxation techniques like yoga or mindfulness meditation.

EXERTION

The right amount of physical activity can help shield you from reacting to stress. Too little activity may make you more susceptible to seeing mild events as stressors. But, too much activity can lead to physical fatigue because exercise is also a source of bodily stress.
To determine exertion balance we look at:

  • Daily steps
  • Weekly activity level
  • Fitness level vs. exercise fatigue

Exertion balance 35/40

A higher number means you're doing well at balancing the benefits of exercise against short-term wear and tear.

Exertion balance 12/40

A lower number means you may want to check your activity level to see if you're exercising too much or too little.

SLEEP PATTERNS

Poor sleep can negatively affect your ability to deal with stress. Similarly, high levels of stress can make it harder to fall asleep.
To understand how sleep affects stress, we look at your:

  • Total sleep over the past week
  • Restlessness and other indicators of disrupted sleep from the night before
  • Time spend in REM & deep sleep from the night before

Sleep patterns 24/30

A higher number means your current sleep patterns reflect a low level of physical stress.

Sleep patterns 9/30

A lower number means your current sleep patterns reflect an elevated level of physical stress. You may want to pay attention to your sleep habits.

Stress Management FAQ's

What is stress?

Stress is how your body and mind react to a situation, or stressor, that you perceive as threatening or unmanageable. The sources of stress can be possitive, like a promotion or new baby, or negative like an overwhelming workload or sleep deprivation.
Stress responses are bodily changes that help you deal with stress. Increased heart rate, heightened alertness, tense muscles-these are all stress responses caused by hormones released from your autonomic nervous system.
Small bursts of stress can motivate you toward a deadline or goal. But, chronic stress over time can harm your mental and physical health.

How do I manage stress better?

Not everyone will find the same situations stressful. Part of stress management is identifying the stressors in your life and finding strategies to manage them, which can include changing your situation or mental outlook.
In the wearables' app, you'll find tools to help you manage stress, which can help you bounce back more quickly from everyday challenges.