People may make offhand or joking comments that their husband, wife, or other relative is a workaholic. However, there are people who are truly addicted to work. Work addiction is considered a process addiction, and process addictions are closely related to other forms of addiction. A work addiction may also be related to an anxiety problem like obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Recognizing the signs of work addiction is fairly easy, but encouraging someone who can’t stop working to seek out professional help is often more of a challenge.

The Signs of Work Addiction

There is a difference between someone who is a hard or dedicated worker and someone who is truly addicted to work. The following are just a few of the signs of work addiction:

• Lying about past accomplishments in the workplace
• Feeling a large amount of anxiety about work even when at home or on vacation
• Feeling reluctance to leave the office at the end of the day and extreme reluctance to take a vacation
• Feeling depressed and isolated yet refusing to break away from work
• Being quick to anger or other aggressive behaviors when things do not run smoothly at work
• Opting to spend time at work or doing work-related tasks versus spending time with friends and family members
• Struggling with sleep disorders that include insomnia
• Spending time away from work causes significant distress

Effective work addiction treatment does more than encourage individuals to spend time away from the office, put their phones down, and close their laptops. It helps them get to the bottom of the work addiction and find out why work has become such an all-consuming part of life.

The Driving Force behind Work Addiction

The reasons behind a work addiction vary, but the following are some potential reasons this addiction begins and continues:

• Low self-esteem and the constant need to prove yourself can result in an inability to stop working
• The avoidance of difficult home life can lead individuals to spend more time in an environment in which they feel safe, secure, needed, or in control
• Perfectionism can cause a person to seek out perfection in everything that they do in the workplace
• Deeper anxiety issues that may be related to obsessive-compulsive disorder or generalized anxiety disorder may find an outlet or focus through work
• A tendency toward addictive behavior may be present
• A person may use work addiction as a substitute for another addiction

Getting Professional Work Addiction Help

If you or someone you care about is struggling with addiction to work, call our work addiction helpline. When it comes to experiencing addictive behaviors, addiction to the job, or a combined addiction to drugs and alcohol, it is important to remember that addictions rarely go away on their own. Seeking out quality work addiction help is the best method of understanding the driving force behind the addiction and receiving professional help for the addiction and your underlying issues. Call our toll-free helpline today. We can confidentially discuss your situation with you and help you find the best workable solution for your needs. Don’t delay getting professional help and regaining a sense of work-life balance.…

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The symptoms of work addiction may include the following:

• You tend to take on more work than everyone around you
• You feel anxious about your work when you leave the office
• It is hard to take a vacation and when you do, you think about your work
• Your family or loved ones claim that you are not available or that you never spend time with them anymore
• You may have trouble falling or staying asleep, or sometimes sleeping at all
• You feel tired all of the time and often drink caffeinated beverages or use other means to stay awake and alert
• You have headaches, blood pressure problems, ulcers or other health issues

When to Seek Help for Workaholism

Help for workaholism should be sought if any of the following occur:

• Your relationships suffer—if your marriage, your family relationships, or relationships with parents or children are suffering because of workaholism, it is time to seek help.
• You have a need for control—you know deep down that you cannot control everything. When you suffer from work addiction, the need to control everything may become overwhelming. While it is important to remain in control of your own life, there are some things you cannot control. The need to control can cause stress and strain on your life.
• Health Concerns—Heart disease, ulcers, migraines, high blood pressure, heart attacks and aneurysms are among the hundreds of illnesses that are attributed to stress each year.
• The thing you work for the most, your work, suffers—no human can maintain the schedules workaholics set for themselves. Whether it is small errors, mistakes in scheduling, competency or completion, your work suffers when you become stretched too thin.

Work Addiction and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Work addiction can be a symptom of deeper psychiatric issues. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) occurs when a person has obsessive worries that he or she cannot let go of. Because of these worries, the person feels compelled to perform certain actions to help fix the anxiety. For the workaholic, this can be making sure every work task is done perfectly and desiring to control the work environment.

Help Finding Work Addiction Therapy

Are you or a loved one addicted to work? We can help. Our toll-free number is available 24 hours a day. We work with a nationally-based network of treatment centres, counsellors, consultants, interventionists, family therapists and more. We can help you break the cycle of work addiction in your life and get you back on track to a more productive and rewarding life.…

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