Let's play a game - a stress game. It's called "How Stressed Am I," and the rules are simple: Just follow along and fill in the blanks. Give yourself five points if your answer is "always," four points if it's "often," three points for "sometimes," 2 twopoints for "rarely," and one point for "never." But before we begin, a warning to players: Just like in golf, the lower the score, the better off you are.

First statement: I am _____ having financial difficulties.

I _______ have health problems.

My home is __________ unstable.

A member of my family is _________ seriously ill.

Doing things for fun is ___________ unheard of in my life.

My hard work ___________ goes unnoticed.

I ___________ feel that I live in a dangerous environment.

I am ___________ paranoid about the security of my job.

I am ___________ trying to lose weight.

I ____________ lack energy.

According to the University's Faculty and Staff Assistance Program, anyone scoring a 23 or higher has a high level of stress, which is caused mostly by lifestyle or routine changes but can also be caused by things such as bright lights, noise, deadlines, traffic, caffeine, pessimistic thinking, having unrealistic expectations or working too much.

Students said friends and money were also common causes of their stress.

"Staying in touch with friends back home stresses me out," RC sophomore Yuri Kashima said. "My friends at home are important to me, but recently we've all been falling apart. And it stresses me out thinking that I'm not going to be able to stay in touch with some of them in the long run."

Financial woes and the uncertainty of things to come are what LSA freshman David Lawrence-Lupton said stress him out the most.

"I suppose right now, I'm stressed out about what to do with the housing next year. I suppose that it's the doubt about what living in the dorm next year will be like. This year was fun, but I don't know how next year will turn out," he said. "I'm also pissed at Entertainment Weekly. I got a four-issue trial thing at Media Play for buying something with a credit card. Now, they're still sending me issues that I don't want, and billing me for them, even though I directly asked the person making the offer if I would have to cancel, and they said no. I try not to be a stupid consumer, and yet things like this still happen."

Living a stressful life may be a commonality for college students - many of whom juggle classes, part-time jobs and serious relationships while preparing for a future outside of higher education - but, says Martha Kimball, a faculty member in the University of Michigan Health System's Preventative Cardiology Department, it shouldn't be.

"Sometimes people get used to pain. They just think, this is the way life is," she stated.

She added that stress - a mental or emotional condition that causes the body's chemicals and hormones to become unbalanced - only becomes a part of life after victims fail to take care of themselves or separate themselves from the pressures surrounding them.

"There isn't a patient alive that doesn't know that we are all engaged in our own wellness," Kimball said, adding that patients often make their conditions worse by worrying about the problems instead of the solutions.

"When the patient is highly stressed and doing nothing about it, they are very seldom compliant," she said. "They don't exercise, they don't eat right. They continue to feel bad."

Short-term stress, she added, can cause everything from irritablity and hostility to sleeplessness, depression and anxiety.

According to the UMHS, stress can also cause fatigue, headaches, insomnia, muscle aches, back and neck pain and stiffness, chest pains, cramps, nausea, coldness, sweating and colds.

And that's not all. Stress can also causes memory and concentration problems, indecisiveness, blankness, confusion and humorlessness.

In addition, those suffering from stress can also become easily angered, frustrated, worried, impatient and short-tempered. The symptoms can make them pace, fidget, smoke, drink alcohol, cry, yell, swear and throw things.

The symptoms prove true for LSA sophomore Lisa Franklin, who said she often loses her temper without realizing it when she's stressed.

"I feel fine normally, just not relaxed. But I guess I don't realize that I'm being rude to everyone until it's too late," Franklin said. "I don't mean to be, but when I'm being pulled in 4,000 directions, I'm not a pleasant person."

Franklin added that she, like many others, has developed some nervous habits to help ease her mind when she's stressed, like biting her nails and smoking.

"Smoking is relaxing because you don't have to think about anything. You can just smoke," she said.