Why is the air traffic control profession so commonly perceived as "stressful"?
Some very spot-on comments, some comments that are totally ignorant of the job. I am a retired ATC, 32 years.  I worked at one of the world's busiest and most complex US facilities (as described by many independent sources).

Have you ever:


Heard a family on the other end of the radio screaming just moments before they were obliterated in the air by a military fighter flying VFR? 
Tried in vain to find a way to contact the occupants of Payne Stewart's jet only to watch helplessly as it finally crashes after several hours of flight?
Had 30+ airliners in your sector which happens to be dotted with Level 5 thunderstorms?  The amount of airspace you now have has decreased substantially and the aircraft all need to deviate. They all want to either go in different directions, or they all want to head towards the few clear spots left. You sit there for 2 hours directing aircraft to basically thread a needle at 500mph and pulling out every trick in your book to ensure that there is enough space to ensure all 30+ aircraft (and more, because those aircraft never stop coming) make it through your airspace without encountering the dangers of severe weather or coming into physical contact with another aircraft. Aircraft that are often executing movements that they don't have clearance for, which requires quick and accurate reaction from the controller.
Dealt with one of the times when a corporate jet "flames out" at 43,000 feet and immediately descends through a dozen or more jets flying the same path, requiring the controller to immediately clear all of those aircraft out of the path of that corporate jet.
Had a small twin prop lose all electronics and be unable to navigate properly while in a thick cloud layer.  His portable radio is not working properly, so radio communications must be short and accurate. (Remember, you have another sector full of aircraft that you are also providing services to). Finally, his portable radio fail.  Right before that, you ask the pilot if he has a cell phone. He does.  You give him a phone number and you and he are able to communicate via telephone to finally guide him to a safe landing at Newport News Airport.


I could write a book about many specific events that controllers have experienced.  The "pucker factor" events.

But the real stress is the long term chronic stress that the job presents.
Certainly, there are facilities that are both low traffic and have uncomplicated operations. If you are lucky enough to work at one of these (and willing to accept the low end of the pay scale) then stress is probably much lower and stressful events infrequent.  But for the majority of controllers (who work at a number of very high traffic facilities; air traffic in the US is higher and more complicated than the next 29 countries' air traffic, combined) the stress is a chronic, continuous level (not the big adrenalin-pumping situations) from being attached to your position for several hours, trying to maintain a constant "big picture", maintaining situational awareness, issuing control instructions to ensure that SAFETY is always the first product of your efforts.  Many, if not most, controllers will most likely retire with high blood pressure, diabetes, sleep disorders, etc. that despite best efforts to exercise and live a healthy lifestyle will probably affect a controller for the remainder of their life.

Certainly, other jobs are stressful, and I would never try to compare one as "more stressful" than the other.  The top ones are all stressful.  But those that try to downplay the stress of air traffic control would only need to visit a busy air traffic control facility for a day and they would see and probably feel the stress themselves.

I have a very good friend that is an FBI field agent in Washington, DC.  He has worked on some very high-profile cases.  We were talking one day and he said something about the stress of air traffic control.  I chuckled saying that at least I wasn't being faced by some of the most dangerous people in the country. But his response was that in his job they have detailed plans for what they do.  His raids were in the middle of the night when these people were asleep and unsuspecting.  He had a well-trained team that each had specific responsibilities.  They had plenty of firepower and protective equipment.  He said that most of his operations were quite easy and they experienced little resistance. He did have moments of intensity, but he (who had visited an air traffic facility) did not think the stress he experienced was anywhere near to what he saw at the air traffic control facility.

But I still would not want to be a law enforcement officer, nor a school teacher for that matter!  My personality was a good match for the job of air traffic control.  But now that I am retired, I take blood pressure medicine, am borderline diabetic despite a regular exercise program and am within a healthy weight and eat very healthy.  I also still have sleep apnea and other sleep issues that I see a sleep doctor several times a year for.  All of my present health issues, which are well-controlled, are according to the doctors a direct effect of the stresses of being an air traffic controller.

Air traffic control IS stressful.  Is it more stressful than other jobs? I doubt it. And to argue about whose job is more stressful is a silly exercise. The trick is having a personality that meshes with the job.  If you are in a job that is not a good match, that is stressful.