your job kills...

A VicHealth report has found that job stress is a leading cause of heart disease and depression. What's more, the heart disease we're seeing in these workers is quite independent of other health risk factors such as weight, smoking, diet or family history, reports the Gallup Management Journal.

So is it just the job or are there other factors?

Rising prices, having too much to do and not enough sleep were the biggest worries, according to a survey from Harris Interactive.

Sure problems at work were cited. But then so were concerns about health, illness of a family member, too much information to process at one time, loneliness, ageing parents, frequent or excessive noise, problems with children and abuse of personal privacy.

Funny thing is no-one mentioned IT issues. That's the one that spins most people out. Every day.

Job stress is bad but it seems to be part of a bigger picture.

The other question is whether stress causes the problems, or whether the problems cause stress? And how do we deal with it?

Here are some tips from high-flyers in this SMH report. The answers are pretty obvious: hobbies, passions, spending time with kids, physical activity and meditation.

Another comes from an interesting study from Michigan State University's School of Labor and Industrial Relations via the Management Issues online journal. which found that reducing your workload and hours leave you more motivated and working better. And the study found it has no effect on your chances of promotion. So the idea is you work less and gain more.

So what stresses you out? How much of it is to do with your job? Is it worth it? How do you chill out?