Are You a Workaholic?

Are You a Workaholic?

As many as one in five Americans may suffer from work addiction

Everybody knows that spending too many hours on the job can lead to a stress, bad nerves, ticks – even strokes and heart attacks. What is not so well known is that work, like alcohol, can actually be an addiction. Experts say up to 20 percent of the working population may be addicted to work. Here your psychologist who has spent years helping people conquer their work addiction, discusses what can be done about workaholism.

How is woraholisme manifested?

In workaholism the person is usually functioning pretty well, but what happens is he reaches a point where he breaks down. The body is like any other machine – if you push it at 120 instead of 100, eventually you're going to have a problem.

What jobs and income levels are most affected by this?

At middle management and above you tend to see more workaholism. But in a compulsive society you can find “isms” anywhere. I feel there is a predisposition to it in a family, and children may be open to it in different ways. For example, in some families alcoholism skips a generation. Whatever say about alcoholism is true of the other “isms”. The effects of a workaholic parent are definitely in the children.

A workaholic lady behind the glass. Photo by Elena.

Are most workaholic men?

It's traditionally been more men. Men have been conditioned not to cry, to be deprived of a certain rich emotionality that comes with being human.

Is there any direct link between the number of hours works and workaholism?

No. It's how you use your work that matters. You could have people who work 9 to 5, but then at home all they talk about is work. They have nothing else in their lives.

So is workaholism treatable?

Yes. Like alcoholism, workaholism is a self-diagnosed disease. With alcoholism, you must get people to say that it's not how much they drink, but how they use drink. Likewise, it's how you use work that matters. It should have a natural structure, a beginning, middle, and end. When people come in here, for treatment, they have no structure. I give them structure. You start by reducing the number of hours, controlling at least the mechanism of the disease. You have to help people curtail the number of hours and deal with the attendant emotions. A straight-forward work problem takes about 12 weeks to resolve. Half the people I counsel do not leave; the other half I move, mainly because they're in a dysfunctional environment.

Could people go cold turkey?

No. I operate on the little steps theory. You slowly move them away from the negative behavior while you're detoxing their emotions.

Four telltale signs:

Four questions that you can ask yourself if you thins you may be a workaholic:

• Do you use work life to avoid social commitments?
• Does work life interfere with your family life?
• Do you spend more than 50 hours a week at work?
• Has working kept you from having interests and hobbies?