PR, the Second Most Stressful Job in America?

Each year I look forward to reading the list of the Most stressful jobs in America, which is compiled by CareerCast.com (I guess I like to see if I know anybody who works in a field on the list). When creating this list, CareerCast.com looks at 11 factors that can cause stress on the job, including work environment, job competitiveness, physical demands and opportunity for advancement. It then ranks 200 professions by how these factors influence the average workday. This year, PR took the number two spot on the list, an increase from the number eight spot on last year’s list (I think we can partially thank BP and Toyota for this jump).
 
I’ve been working in PR for a while and although, I admit, I have days when I feel like the stress will never end and I’d give anything to be sitting in a lounge chair on the beach, overall I’m not convinced that PR deserves the number two spot on CareerCast.com’s list. Sure at times we have tight deadlines, overflowing to-do lists, multiple requests, late-night calls, irregular hours and the occasional disaster, but do these things really add up to make PR the second most stressful job in America?
 
Sure, PR is stressful at times but I wouldn’t trade my job for anything—I love what I do! Plus, winning a new account, getting a major hit or completely wowing a client makes all the hard work worth it at the end of the day.