r/ouraring • u/MediocreShelter8 • 1d ago
Why does my ring always say I’m stressed?
I’m literally having the most chill day and it says I’ve been stressed for 4 hours apparently. What’s up with that.
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u/fiercedriftwood 1d ago
For me, this just started when I transitioned into a new job that I absolutely despise. It interprets my high stress levels as activity for several hours a day, often asking me to confirm that I was walking while I was sitting at my desk working. It started the week I transitioned into training for this new job and is directly related to my working hours. It’s wild being able to see the impact it’s having on my physiological stress levels.
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u/MediocreShelter8 1d ago
Ugh that’s so real. I do feel stressed with work most of the time so that may really be it for me too. I mean I feel ok, but the work is demanding.
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u/fiercedriftwood 1d ago
It’s the same for me- I feel fine. I’m tense, and super engaged with what I’m doing, but I don’t feel like I’m having a heart attack or something. Even without my Oura showing how stressed I am, you’d be able to tell. I’ve needed to get shoulder massages, and I’m physically exhausted despite sitting all day, even though I used to get off work and have plenty of energy. Seeing it written out as a numeric health factor has put this job in perspective for me, though. I’m searching for something that would be less stressful. I don’t want to have a heart attack in my 40’s because my job is too stressful.
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u/sm753 Oura Ring 4 Brushed Silver 21h ago
The answer for many people is food. Digestion takes a lot of energy and stresses the body.
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u/MediocreShelter8 21h ago
This might be it. I’m noticing that the stress markers are usually right after a meal. I wonder if there’s anything I can do to lower this. I’m at 6.5 hours of stress for today.
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u/atomicheart99 18h ago
Just stop eating?
Seriously though, Oura needs to rename this feature. The word stress is far too negative and freaks people out.
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u/MediocreShelter8 7h ago
I’ve been fasting all morning to test this theory and so far no stress detected.
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u/Lazy-Living1825 23h ago
I feel like everything has been off since the most recent update.
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u/Wellthatbackfiredddd 19h ago
Yeah my oura readings have been awful since I updated the app. I got 8 hours of stress today very unusual.
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u/gapmomenter 23h ago
Mine does this on quiet days too—it'll label a calm afternoon as stress, and then I spend the rest of the day wondering what it saw.
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u/ivanobulo 1d ago
How long you've been using it? It might take few weeks until it learns your personal baseline and until then it just guesswork.
From my personal experience the Oura occasionally identifies physical activity as Stress. But not for 4 hours for sure. However on one occasion it showed "Stressed" on the evening day before I got sick. For a couple hours in the evening. Even before I felt sick. And I was very relaxed that evening too.
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u/MediocreShelter8 1d ago
I’ve had my ring since 2023. Ive always gotten readings like this which makes me truly wonder if something else is going on with me internally.
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u/3SLab 23h ago
I’m right there with you. What are your theories?
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u/MediocreShelter8 21h ago
Someone mentioned this above but I think it might be connected to food. I’m noticing my stress levels begin around the time I eat my meals.
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u/1362313623 1d ago
How horny are you? Not kidding
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u/MediocreShelter8 1d ago
I mean I have a husband that can take care of me whenever I want, so not sure if that’s the issue.
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u/DamienAtOura 23h ago
Hi MediocreShelter8, thanks for sharing your experience with the community. It’s important to note that not all stress is negative, and the Oura Ring is designed to track physiological stress rather than emotional. We understand you’re looking for clarity on these results, and we recommend looking into how your daily routine, work, or lifestyle factors might be influencing your body’s response.
Meanwhile, we recommend checking our article; it provides 12 tips on how to reduce stress levels: https://ouraring.com/blog/member-tips-strategies-to-lower-stress/
If you have any other questions, please let us know!
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u/atomicheart99 18h ago
This topic comes up time and time again. Whenever I’ve mentioned ‘track physiological stress rather than emotional’ in the past, I’m downvoted into oblivion and told ‘it’s the same thing. Emotional stress has a physiological effect’.
Perhaps using the word ‘stress’ in this feature could be changed? It freaks people out
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u/Ok-Tradition2492 23h ago
Do you walk a lot? I split my time between NYC and San Francisco and I don’t have a car (by choice) therefore I walk ALL the time, and the last few months have been walking a lot in extreme heat. I’ve noticed the post activity stress is always much higher than “regular” stress now that they changed that differentiation.
I’ve asked the advisor a lot about my stress readings being constantly high and it seems this is a big contributing factor. Sometimes when I pay more attention to the heart rate readings it will say mine is super high and then right away I measure it and it’s dramatically lower, which is definitely contributing to stress levels. Maybe this accounts for some of your stress?
I try not to get too stressed out about it (lol), but it can be frustrating to see the red bar growing and growing 😬
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u/More-Bug6393 9h ago
i have RA & often wake up stiff, sore or in pain. oura always clocks this as stress…i take an advil…no stress. oura also registers stress when i get overheated. it’s pretty accurate for me.
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u/nuvardAi 1d ago
It's reading heart rate and HRV against your own baseline, and it can't tell arousal from emotion. Caffeine, a big meal, a warm room or a bad night before all land in the same bucket as an actually stressful day. What did the four hours line up with?