Due to the fact that it was identified as one of the greatest 21st century diseases, stress at workplace is recognized as a common phenomenon. According to the American Institute of Stress, job stress has escalated progressively in the past few decades. Lack of job security, struggle with the amount of workload, people issues or inability to juggle work with personal life are all possible reasons for job-related stress and they differ among individuals. However, many have tackled with the issue of listing the most stressful careers that are generally considered to cause more mental or emotional stress. The following article outlines 10 careers that keep reappearing in this context.
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Police officers
For years, a career in police workforce has been emphasized as one of the most stressful ones. Even though they expect to find themselves in risky situations on many occasions, police officers report that it is impossible to completely repress the feeling of fear they are experiencing when on duty. Not only do they face life-threatening challenges on a daily basis, but they are also constantly exposed to human pain and suffering. Police officers are supposed to have a total control of their emotions and to be able to suppress them, even when provoked. This commonly causes the accumulation of their feelings, what eventually results in large amounts of stress.
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Firefighters
Alongside courageous policemen, firefighters have been repeatedly listed as one of the bravest humans on the planet. Only those who are pumped up with the adrenaline are ready to face the risks of this job. Besides the obvious dangerous situations they find themselves in, firefighters also have to cope with a number of other challenges this career imposes on them. Working 24 and 48-hours shifts commonly results in sleep deprivation. Furthermore, long hours make it almost impossible for firefighters to have any personal life.
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Military Personnel
It is no surprise that those who face possibly lethal combat experience tremendous amounts of stress. Not only are their own lives put on line, but military personnel are also responsible for those who are under their command. An unimaginable amount of stress accumulates from the very beginning, boot camp and basic military training, to dangerous tasks they perform on duty. Military officers are expected to follow a number of orders, whether they agree with them or not, and have very little say in how they perform their tasks and spend their time. Separation from their families and friends for months, even years, also imposes a great deal of stress. Additionally, the fear of unemployment after they finished with their duty is not to be neglected.
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Airline pilot
After hearing about numerous airplane accidents, one might ask themselves how stressful a job of an airline pilot actually is. Although their career has no resemblance to the previous three, pilots too are burdened with the fact that they are holding many people’s lives in their hands. Irregular working hours are just the beginning, and also the root of all work-related stress. Unlike the passengers who are usually granted with a few days to recover from jet lag, airline pilots are expected to adapt. This eventually causes them to feel fatigue and sleepy, preventing them from flying the plane with the highest level of concentration, thus putting their passengers’ lives at risk.
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A bookkeeper
When it comes to bookkeeping, many forget to include it in the list of most stressful occupations. However, the level of stress they deal with when looking to fulfil their responsibilities is high. In order for a bookkeeper to excel at his job, it is of utmost importance for them to be absolute perfectionists, since one comma or a decimal can create terrible problems for the client. Furthermore, every bookkeeper will tell you that deadlines are extremely difficult to handle, as you are expected to pay close attention to details and complete your work in a timely manner.
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PR agents
Despite the fact that many have rated it as highly popular career, PR agents more often than not find themselves in unpleasant situations. One of the biggest challenges is balancing clients’ demands and public responses, since many clients find it difficult to understand alternative points of views.
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Event coordinators
Likewise, event planners deal with the same amount of stress and fairly similar problems. The purpose of an event coordinator is to capture the essence of the client’s vision and bring it to life. In any case, balancing their wishes and what can actually be done is more than difficult. The ability to carry out client’s idea while keeping your head straight is what separates professional event planner from a mediocre one.
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Corporate executives
Many dream of reaching that point in a career when they will get the opportunity to be at the very top of the company. They wish to be the ones who wake up every morning, have a cup of coffee, muster their game face and go to work where they have people working for them. Nevertheless, while gaining the title of a corporate executive might seem prestigious, it is not nearly as fun. Their work day lasts 24 hours instead of 8, since they are not in a position to manage their own schedule. They are constantly rushing from one meeting to other and hopping from one plane to another, what prevents them from spending any time with their families. In addition, corporate executives are responsible for all of their employees business, as well as personal lives. Finally, many corporate executives state that they are currently facing some of the most ungrateful times because of the poor state of the economy.
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A newspaper reporter
Not only is it difficult to live up to the expectations and present the audience with the jaw-dropping news at all times, but the 21st century news reporters are constantly fighting a war with a multitude of social media platforms. What is more, reporters quite often find themselves in perilous situations, bank robberies, at murder scenes and such, thus putting their own life at risk in order to produce quality news.
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Taxi driver
In the end, many might find it unusual for a taxi driver to find its place on this list, but it is certainly not to be neglected as they are always working long hours and still receive ridiculously low wages. Precisely for this reason, a taxi driver’s job is considered ungrateful. Moreover, unhealthy dietary habits cause most taxi drivers to experience gradual or even sudden weight gain. They also tend to suffer from musculoskeletal pain that is inevitable, due to the nature of their job. The fatality rate is not to be neglected either, since it results from negligent driving, as well as customer assaults and robberies.
Ultimately, what one must keep in mind is that though we rate certain occupations as more or less stressful, at times such rankings have little importance. It is not the nature of the job, but the nature of the person that affects the amount of stress in a worker. The fact is that certain individuals thrive in situations that can be considered nerve-wracking, while others would be severely stressed. Stress is a personalized phenomenon and no definite generalizations can be made regarding the level of stress in certain careers.
