We all intuitively know what workaholism or work addiction is.  Beyond “busy boasting” is the chronic and serious problem of work addiction.  You may have seen the signs.  The man who is literally NEVER home, the woman who has toiletries and clothes at the office so frequent are her work all nighters.  And the person who if they are forced to take holidays or time off – does not know how to occupy themselves without work.

Technically workaholism is not a formal, mental health diagnosis.  It is more a behavioural addiction or a life problem – the consequences of which are often seen in mental health settings.  Work addiction is distinguished by:

  • Using work to moderate or distract yourself from painful emotions;
  • Working to the exclusion of all else – no hobbies, interests or conversation outside of work matters;
  • Suffering if you can’t work – perhaps signs like the sneaking off to respond to e-mails while on a holiday;
  • It’s painful if you are not working – so never taking time off; and
  • Negative consequences are impacting the individual – in other words – they are suffering.  It can be physical health or mental health or both.

No blog on work addiction can be complete without the obligatory reference to the Japanese phenomena of Karoshi or death by overwork.  However, I have been a clinical psychologist for 20 years and I have never seen a case of death by over work.  Before death comes anxiety, depression, divorce and estrangement from children.  There’s also the chronic health problems and obesity.

Here comes the sciencey bit…a systematic review conducted in the Scandinavian (see bottom of the page for a full reference) found that people who worked over 50 hours a week had much higher odds of their weight being in the obese range.

So we know – both intuitively and from the scientific literature that work addiction has negative consequences.  So what causes it?

What causes work addiction?

  • Capitalism – yep – there may be an economic imperative to work harder, make more money and be more successful. Then you can pay off the mortgage and buy more stuff.
  • Workaholism tends to run in families. Was an unhealthy dedication to work modeled to you when you were a child by one or both parents?  Some families tend to focus on and build their lifestyle around how busy and important one or both parents are at their career.
  • Modern Philosophy. In his thoughtful podcast, Ezra Klein talks to modern thinkers who call out “Workism” or the belief that we must find our purpose or our calling through work.  Essentially when we work a lot – society backs us up and reveres us.  Hence, workaholism is a culturally sanctioned addiction.
  • Finally, for many people their work is often a knowable commodity. Rewards are clear.  Many successful people at work know what they are doing.  In contrast, home life and relationships can be messy and complicated.  So yes, for some people it may be easier to be at work.

So what to do about work addiction?

Everyone’s threshold for seeking professional help is different.  If you do seek professional help for this or any other problem, please check the qualifications of the person you are seeing on the AHPRA website.  A useful principal is that long standing and ingrained problems (like workaholism) require methodical and multi-component solutions.  A work addict is probably not going to turn around and profoundly change their life in response to simple advice like “can’t you just cut back your hours”.

If you can see some of these signs in yourself there is an excellent body of organisational psychology work by researcher, Sabine Sonnentag.  This is about recovery from work.  Or how to leave work at the office and not have professional issues impinge on your life outside of work.  Techniques such as:

  • No phone or e-mail once you have left work.
  • Having a simple ritual which distinguishes home life from work life. It can be something as easy as changing out of your work clothes.
  • Absorbing and stimulating activities can clear the mind of left over work issues. (More on this in later videos and blogs).

As I said in the current video, when the boss is a workaholic, it’s a whole other difficult situation.  You will probably not be able to change them so never suggest that their one and half food court businesses or their public service unit with deliverable KPIs are empires not worth dying for.  If they don’t have a good understanding of their own needs, self-care and safety then they probably won’t have any consideration of yours.  Perhaps the only thing that a workaholic boss will understand is that you have to leave and go to another location and work really hard there.

So these are my thoughts on workaholism: it’s pretty serious and you could say that I’m not a fan of what it does to people and what it does to their families.  Most thoughtful conversations about preventing workaholism and work/life balance are pretty useful.  For further reading to get your head around this complex topic I recommend:

On Workaholism:

Chained to the Desk (Third Edition): A Guidebook for Workaholics, Their Partners and Children, and the Clinicians Who Treat Them, By Bryan E Robinson

For scientific articles on recovery from work and other work related issues.

http://uni-mannheim.academia.edu/SabineSonnentag

Ezra Klein podcast

https://www.vox.com/ezra-klein-show-podcast

Look for episode “Work as identity, burnout as lifestyle”

Psycho-social factors at work, long work hours, and obesity: a systematic review. Solovieva, Svetlana;Lallukka, Tea;Virtanen, Marianna;Viikari-Juntura, Eira Scandinavian Journal of work, environment & health; May 1, 2013; 39, 3; page 241-258

We have a warm, empathetic and experienced team of Clinical Psychologists, Registered Psychologists and Psychotherapists who can help you in managing work addictions and your mental health. Please contact us or call us now on 02 9328 5899 to book an appointment.