This paper is on workplace stress and mental illness. Some occupations have always been associated with high stress levels as in policing or paramedical services that tend to expose workers to crisis situations as a matter of course. However, many more persons develop mental illness through work-related stress of other kinds. Whereas 50 years ago, North Americans did not speak in terms of stress, or stressors, these have become household words and with workers familiar with the idea of 'burn out' as a result of working conditions and particular attitudes towards their work and their lifestyles, in general.