Losing your phone ‘is as stressful as a terrorist attack’

Is there anything more stressful than a terrorist attack?

According to 2,000 Britons, there is: losing your smartphone and missing your train.

The findings emerged in a new study by the Physiological Society, which got men and women across the country to rank life events on a scale of stressfulness.

Unsurprisingly, losing a loved-one and developing a terminal illness topped the list.

But the report revealed mundane everyday experiences, like misplacing a phone, derail our emotions as much as a major traumatic event.  

The study also revealed women are more prone to stress than men, with females ranking life events higher on the stress spectrum than male participants. 

A survey of 2,000 people found losing a phone was as stressful as a terrorist attack

Concerns over long-term problems such as illness or imprisonment were the biggest factors.  

Dr Lucy Donaldson, chair of The Physiological Society’s Policy Committee, said: ‘The modern world brings with it stresses we would not have imagined 50 years ago, such as social media and smartphones.

‘It was striking that for every single event in this study, from money problems to Brexit, women reported greater stress levels than men. This could have a real impact on women’s health.’

Researchers spoke to 2,000 Britons to uncover difference in stress between men and women, and how they react to the modern life as well as the impact on health.

The survey used 18 different life events, and asked respondents to rate them on a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 meaning ‘not at all stressful’, and 10 meaning ‘very stressful’.

In a controversial finding, researchers found the so-called ‘fairer sex’ are affected much more by troubles in life.

Terrorism was found to be one of the biggest driver of stress in women, but affected men much less.

But there was barely any gender differences over the birth of a first child – with both sexes equally wound up.

Becoming a parent was the issue the genders had the most similar rating towards, with particular prominence among those aged 25-34.  

The survey, conducted by The Physiological Society, also revealed stress levels increase with age.  

In a separate finding from the report, Scotland was deemed the most stressed area in the UK. While the south east of England was placed at the opposite end of the scale.

London was the area most stressed about Brexit, but also had the greatest variety of responses.

People living in London and Scotland were most likely to get stressed about Brexit than those in Wales and most of the rest of England.

Those with degrees were almost more upset about leaving Europe than people with just GCSEs or A-Levels.

Not surprisingly, the most stressful event was the death of a spouse/relative with an average score of 9.43 out of 10, closely followed by fears of imprisonment, with an average score of 9.15.

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The end of a long term relationship or losing a job, both scoring 8.47, appears to be less stressful than being flooded which scored 8.89.

Overall, the most common responses concerned driving: car breakdowns, traffic, busy motorways, road rage, or being the passenger of a careless driver all featured.

Another set of common responses described caring for aged, ill, or disabled people. Illness and loss of pets also featured commonly, showing that those close to us need not be human to cause emotional effects.

Some answers revealed concerns over more trivial matters such as ‘family arguments at Christmas’ or ‘the scrutiny of social media’.  

Meanwhile, children will now tackle stress in schools by being taught well-being techniques.

The Department of Education is set to trial mindfulness lessons whereby pupils as young as eight meditate and and do breathing exercises to reduce stress.