The study aimed at finding out sources and symptoms of occupational stress and management strategies of principals in secondary schools in Cross River State, Nigeria. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study with a population of 420 principals (304 males and 116 females) in secondary schools in Cross River State, Nigeria. Three research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. Occupational Stress and Management Strategies of Principals Questionnaire containing 26 items was the instrument for data collection. Descriptive statistics were used in answering the research questions while t-test was used in testing the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. From the research findings, results showed that poor working environment, pressure from teachers, etc. affect the performance of principals irrespective of gender. Persistent head ache, regular body pain and hypertension are principals' symptoms of stress. It was recommended that secondary schools principals should hire competent personnel to assist in administration, delegate duties, take regular exercises and sought counselling help among others to ease their stress and create enabling environment for better school administration.