Take the 2-minute tour ×  What is the word or phrase that
describes a traumatic event that stops or changes a person’s
mode of living?  Something like an illness or something like
happened to Tom Hanks in the movie Cast Away. Or even Tom
Hanks’s girlfriend, who was going to school to get her doctorate
but “put everything on hold” when Chuck (Tom Hanks’s character)
disappears in a plane crash.  I’m almost looking for a
psychological term here, and I want to study more about the
topic, but I don’t have a term or phrase for it that I can use
to research it.  share|improve this question Homes and Rahe, who
developed the scale that grades stressful events, actually
called these life-changing events. –  JLG Jan 6 '13 at 16:11
@JLG Wow! That's just what I needed! Thank you! Why don't they
teach kids about this scale in school? It seems it would make
their lives ALOT easier if they understood it. –  leeand00 Jan 6
'13 at 21:42 Is there a name for a question that inadvertently
embeds the answer? The two most appropria