Updated September 03, 2013.

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Definition:

The term workaholic has been in common, everyday usage since the early 1970s, and although the name seems self-explanatory, after four decades of research into work addiction, experts have not settled on a single definition. In the most basic sense, a workaholic is someone who is addicted to work, but like exercise addiction, work is a socially acceptable addictive behavior, so it can be tricky to convince anyone that overwork is actually a genuine psychological problem.

Work addiction or workaholism is not a recognized diagnosis in that it does not appear in the current version of the DSM, nor is it proposed to go into the next version, the DSM-V.

Definitions of work addiction have ranged from conceptualizing workaholics as hyperperformers, to characterizing them as unhappy and obsessive people who do not perform good work. Others have framed workaholism as a way of avoiding emotional and personal issues, or the dysfunctional choice to focus exclusively on work, while neglecting other areas of life, resulting in a poor work life balance.

For overwork to become work addiction, it has to include both mental and behavioral aspects. The mental aspects include being overly preoccupied with work -- even obsessive about it -- while the behavioral aspect would involve working excessively hard, in other words, putting in significantly more hours per day or week than is normal and than is required. So if you are working long hours to make ends meet, don't particularly want to be working those hours, and would prefer to be doing something else with your time, you probably don't meet the criteria for being a workaholic.

Similarly, if you are excessively interested in your job, but only work 35-40 hours per week, spending the rest of the time on personal, recreational or social activities, you probably aren't addicted to work.

It gets a little confusing when you work regular hours, but are unable to detach yourself mentally from your job. And I'm not talking about having a few fleeting thoughts about your job, or even spending a few hours thinking through a particular problem that has come up at work. I mean thinking about work most of the time, including evenings and weekends, and feeling unable to concentrate on, or derive pleasure from, anything other than work. If this sounds like you, you may be a workaholic.

Signs of Workaholism

Despite the difficulties in precisely defining workaholism, several signs of workaholism have been identified. There include:

• Increased busyness without an increase in productivity
• Relationship problems resulting from overwork or preoccupation with work
• Health problems resulting from work-related stress and/or overwork
• Using work as a way of coping with, escaping, or numbing feelings
• Developing tolerance to work, so needing to work more to get the same effects
• Experiencing withdrawal if you are not working
• Relapsing to overwork when you try and cut down or stop

If you are struggling with work taking over your life, ironically, you might be able to get help through your employee benefits, especially if psychological services are covered. Or you can seek assistance from a therapist privately. Although work addiction is not formally recognized as an addiction or treated through mainstream addiction services, a therapist or counselor can use techniques such as cognitive-behavioral therapy to help you to manage the underlying feelings and the distorted thought processes that underlie your tendency to overwork. Your family doctor can help with a referral.

<sub>Sources

Bakker, A. "Workaholism and Relationship Quality: A Spillover-Crossover Perspective." Journal of Occupational Health Psychology 14:23-33. 2009.

Griffiths, M. "Workaholism -- A 21st Century Addiction." The Psychologist 24:740-744. 2011.

Shimazu, A., Shaufeli, W. & Taris, T. "How Does Workaholism Affect Worker Health and Performance? The Mediating Role of Coping." Int. J. Behav. Med. 17:154-160. 2010.

Taris, T., Geurts, S., Schaufeli, W. et al. "All Day and All of the Night: The Relative Contribution of Two Dimensions of Workaholism to Well-Being in Self-Employed Workers." Work and Sress 22:153-165. 2008.</sub>

Pronunciation: work-a-hol-ik

Also Known As: work addict

Common Misspellings: work a holic, work-a-holic, workahlic

Examples: John, a workaholic, thought nothing of staying at the office well past 9pm each evening.