>> Over the years my wife and I have met many accountants through contacts at our workplaces. Some of our friends are married to accountants. We know six accountants to be exact each of whom was a CPA, and it is interesting to note that by age 45 each of them had a nervous breakdown. They are in other fields today. <<

I'll see your anecdotal evidence, pardna, and raise you one <g>. I know dozens of accountants and in fact am married to one (MBA with accounting focus and a professional accountant for over 20 years), and not one of them has cracked up. I know one guy who was a CPA and changed careers, but now he's a programmer so he's still in a wacky profession ;-)

Some CPA's don't like the megahours every year before April 15, and I know a couple who have left public accounting for corporate accounting for that reason, but that isn't exactly having a nervous breakdown. Almost all the accountants I know -- anecdotal, of course -- have been accountants their whole careers and expect to remain so.

Mike