Is Project Manager a stressful job?

I'd like so stress the following. There are two types of stress:

- Good stress or what psychologists refer to as "eustress," is the type of stress we feel when we are excited.

- Bad stress comes from quick surprises that need a response. The triggers aren't always happy and exciting.

Is PM stressful? Hopefully so, with lots of good stress.

It is stressful by nature because stress in people like stress in physics is an internal resistance to change by some outside force.

If I were to bend a tree branch, stress is the internal force trying to bend the branch back to it's original shape. Similarly stress in people is our own internal reaction to external forces bringing us out of our "comfort zones".

Not all stress is bad. That internal energy may be focused. If I stress a stick and attach a string, I have a bow which is a powerful tool that can focus that internal energy on a target. If I am anxious about a project outcome, that anxiety may motivate me to focus on the intended outcome.

Different people deal with different types of stress in different ways, but if you never experienced stress, you would have no reason to change and grow.