How do you know if you are a workaholic?

Workaholism is a common problem in young and ambitious people, but mature people who have reached a certain wealth status suffer from it just as often. Interestingly, work addiction is not the domain of the Japanese alone. Death from overwork also threatens other nations. How to recognize workaholism and how to fight it?

Workaholism – the symptoms

The first warning sign is the fact that we cannot live without work. We become dependent on our working hours, but we take our responsibilities home when theoretically we should have time to relax.

The main symptoms of workaholism are:

• sleep problems – constantly thinking about responsibilities does not allow us to sleep peacefully,
• feelings of guilt when we rest and problems with relaxing after work,
• inability to focus on anything other than work duties – we quickly get bored when reading a book or watching a film,
• neglecting our own family, friends and needs in favor of work,
• even on a long-awaited vacation, we talk about work and think about it frequently.

Workaholism often leads to eating disorders, problems with concentration, neurosis, a constant feeling of tension, severe stress, depression, a feeling of emptiness and self-esteem problems.

Outside of work, we become lost, unable to find our way in space and time. Workaholics often seem thoughtful, absent, even among loved ones. They often mask their behavior with silence or blame their friends and family for distracting them from their duties.

In workaholism, discipline comes first, so a person addicted to work and time pressure will not be able to agree to spontaneity, even time off work is planned in terms of the next tasks to be done. Relaxation and tranquility are alien concepts to the workaholic – focused on work, he or she will not want to admit the thought that he or she can just start a well-deserved rest.

Additionally, a work-addicted person will see nothing but work: he or she will begin to forget about other responsibilities such as paying bills or picking up kids from school. Over time, he or she will also relegate his or her health, dreams, and goals to the background and shift all energy to work.

Workaholism – the dangers

Workaholism can be a fatal disease. Workaholics are more likely to commit suicide, have problems with drug addiction – mainly cocaine and amphetamines, have to take sedatives and sleeping pills to fall asleep. Unfortunately, after years of such work, their bodies can say enough – they often begin to suffer from heart disease, which threatens with a heart attack or stroke. Constant work is very debilitating for the body and lack of rest and proper sleep hygiene may even lead to psychosis or depression.

Treating workaholism

Unfortunately, work addiction is quite difficult to cure because employment brings financial benefits and allows you to live your daily life without stressing about finances. Many workaholics argue their disease by the fact that through work they can educate their children and provide for their family.

Treatment is mainly based on psychotherapy, during which the patient learns how to separate leisure time from work. This is particularly difficult for the self-employed. A huge advance has been the setting of rigid working hours during which the addicted person can perform his or her duties. Overtime is prohibited on days off – the therapist recommends walking, physical activity, and relaxing activities such as yoga, meditation, or crafts

Keeping your mind occupied with something other than work allows you to get away from obsessive thinking about work and changes your perception of the world. Separation of work and free time is very important in work life balance. More and more companies, including corporations, strongly convince employees to maintain healthy harmony and find time for their own pleasures and loved ones. Workshops on productivity and conscious management of oneself in time, among others, are supposed to help with this.

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