This morning’s Metro front page story was about a study linking stress at work to heart disease. (The juxtaposition with the picture of Heath Ledger, found dead after an apparent drug overdose, is an unfortunate coincidence.)

Work-related stress is the biggest cause of working days lost through injury or ill health, according to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). (What, even more than hangovers?) It apparently loses UK industry more than 13 million days a year at a cost of £3.7 billion annually. Between 30% and 60% of absence is thought to be stress-related.

Cynics might say that this is because it’s easy to fake stress to your doctor to get a sick note. Tired? Fed up of your job? Hate your boss? Feel you need a break? That must be ‘work-related stress’. Of course, I would never suggest such a thing.

The article got me thinking about stress in the advertising industry. You hear much more talk about stress these days than you used to. There’s no question that we are sometimes under pressure to deliver for our clients, and that the industry in general has become much leaner and harder-working, which puts pressure on people. But are our working lives in this business really “stressful”? It’s not like working in a hospital or on a trawler or an oil rig where lives are at risk if someone makes a mistake.

Here’s a test I found – ask yourself these questions to see if you might be experiencing work-related stress:

I take work home most nights of the week and / or at weekends
I think about work problems at home
I voluntarily work long hours
Work affects my sleep
Family and friends complain that I spend too little time with them
I frequently talk about work at home and with friends
I find it difficult to relax after work
I find it difficult to say ‘no’ to requests to undertake additional work
I find it difficult to delegate
My self esteem is largely based on my achievement at work
I report directly to Tony Davidson
I work on the Woolite account

Yes to one or two = you may just be dedicated to your job. Yes to more than four = you may appear obsessive about work to others. If you answered ‘yes’ to either of the last  two, consult a doctor at once.

What do readers think? Are you stressed at work? Does it make you ill? Do you blame your agency or the state of the business in general?