Stress

v50.14 · v0.47.05 This article is about the current version of DF. Note that some content may still need to be updated. More Info · V

Stress is a condition that is similar to unhappiness in earlier versions. It will cause the dwarf to flash with a downward red arrow, and "Over the long term, Urist McStressed has been under a great deal of stress" will show on the personality trait tab.

Dwarves under stress for long periods of time will develop worse symptoms of stress level: "Urist McReallyStressed has become haggard and drawn due to the tremendous amounts of stresses placed upon him". In the short term, excessive levels of stress will lead to temporary emotional breakdowns - throwing tantrums, slipping into depression, or stumbling around obliviously. In the long term, excessive levels of stress will lead to insanity.

Animals can also be stressed, which seems to happen when an animal has been constrained for a long time.

Stress levels are given as a number, where a negative number is good, and a positive number is bad.

You may want to check on keeping your dwarves unstressed

Stress factors

Stress is affected by the emotions a dwarf experiences upon encountering certain circumstances; these encounters are temporarily shown as thoughts in the dwarf's profile, though the resulting stress can linger long after the thoughts are gone. The strength of the emotions (and the resulting stress values) vary based on the dwarf's personality.

Being out in the sun seems to affect dwarves quite strongly in terms of stress.

Moving past corpses seems to trigger unhappy "horrified" thoughts which are wrongly labelled "seeing XXX die". If you see such a thought, make sure to clean up corpses and place in a (deep) dump.

Emotions and the level of stress or stress relief they cause presumably have numerical values under the hood, but in game their effect can only be determined by color. Note that in many instances the same things cause different emotions. The exact mechanisms of how it's decided what emotions are to follow are as of yet unclear, but there's a general consensus that it depends on both severity of factors and the personality of dwarf in question.

Here is a start of table of emotions and what they can be caused by:

Emotion	Cause
enraptured	Communing with a deity
pleasure	Being next to high quality furniture, acquiring well-crafted items, putting on exceptional items
admiration	Being next to very high quality furniture
fondness	Making a new friend, talking with friend
sympathy	Giving somebody water
affection	Playing with a pet, forming a bond with the trained animal
adoration	Giving birth to a baby
love	Talking with parent, spouse, or child, gaining a sibling
caring	Giving somebody food
proud	Owning a high quality furniture, being elected as a mayor
gratitude	Being rescued
euphoric	Drinking
enjoyment	Performing
blissful	Dining in a legendary dining room, sleeping in great bedroom
delighted	Watching a performance, eating a truly decent meal, putting on an exceptional item
content	Being able to rest after injury, eating a fine meal, putting on a well-crafted item, discussing or pondering a topic, being near to waterfall
satisfied	Receiving food while sick, being successful at work, improving a skill, teaching a skill, producing a masterwork, creating an artifact
elated	Committing a crime and having punishment delayed
expectant	Discussing or pondering a topic
triumph	Being elected as a mayor
interested	Being next to high quality furniture, watching a performance, being taught a skill
astonished	Being sentenced by dwarven justice and having punishment reduced
wonder	Being taught a skill
annoyed	Being caught in a rain, being caught in a snow storm, being out in the sun, eating without a table, sleeping on ground/rocks/cave floor/in the grass, drinking without a goblet or mug, drinking water without a well, suffering a minor injury
grouchy	Being caught in a rain, being caught in a snow storm, being out in the sun
exasperated	Being caught in a rain
irritated	Being out in the sun, being hungry/thirsty/drowsy for a long time, eating at crowded table, wearing tattered clothes
bitter	Getting into an argument, wearing tattered clothes
resentful	Getting into an argument
lonely	Being away from family, being away from friends
uneasy	Being unable to pray to deity, lack of decent meals, being caught in a freakish weather
worried	Lack of decent meals
restless	Being unable to practice a craft, being unable to practice a martial art, being unable to learn, being unable to use abstract thinking, being forced to rest
guilty	Being caged, being forced to rest
frustrated	Being unable to practice a craft, being unable to practice a martial art, being unable to pray to a deity, generally living an unexciting life
bored	Being unable to practice a craft, being unable to practice a martial art, being unable to learn, being unable to use abstract thinking, being unable to wander, generally living an unexciting life
embarrassed	Sleeping without a room, wearing tattered clothes
dejected	Wearing tattered clothes
indignat	Unburied corpse of a dead friend
shaken	Suffering a major injury
disgusted	Smelling miasma, being nauseated by the sun, eating vermin, drinking water from murky pool, being caught in a freakish weather, drinking vomit
humiliated	Eating without a table, wearing tattered clothes
sad	Being away from family, being away from friends
grieving	Death of another dwarf
shocked	Being attacked by a hostile creature, death of another dwarf
panicking	Being attacked by a hostile creature
angry	Getting into an argument
afraid	Experiencing trauma
horrified	Seeing corpses of sapient creatures
vengeful	Joining a battle
loathing	Being beaten up in course of dwarven justice or otherwise