• A workaholic will load up on tasks, take on many different projects and agree projects that may seem impossible to complete
• A workaholic may work past the end of his or her shift, even if he or she is not received overtime pay
• A workaholic may find it difficult to take days off from work, and will spend days off concerned about what is being done at work, what could be done, and what he or she would be doing if at work
• A person addicted to work will focus on the job as opposed to family or social life, and he or she will face isolation and damaged personal relationships
• A workaholic will feel physical effects as a result of work addiction, and he or she will feel exhausted and irritable

What Causes Work Addiction?

Work addiction is often fueled by childhood troubles, environment or current concerns. Work addicts may share one or more of the following:

• Fear of failure. Many people who become addicted to their jobs are afraid of failing or being a subpar employee. They want to excel at what they do and be recognized for it.
• Lack of stability. If your home life is chaotic or unstable, you may feel that work is your safe haven.
  Loss of control. If you feel a lack of control over many aspects of your life, work may provide a venue in which you are in charge.
• No proper stress outlet. Not having external ways to alleviate stress or frustration can lead someone to cope by staying busy and constantly working.
• Lack of self-worth. Work addicts may not feel valued in other areas of life, or they may feel their personal worth determined through the work they complete.

Allowing your job to determine your self-worth, provide personal stability or act as a coping method will lead to work addiction.

Enjoy Your Job and Avoid Work Addiction

You can enjoy the benefits of a job done well without becoming addicted. Some tips for healthily balancing work and life include the following:

• Celebrate the small successes. Reward yourself for a job well done. Recognize that you have worked hard and that you can now relax and focus on other aspects of life for a time.
• Find a hobby. Find an activity outside of work that you enjoy. Allow this to be your stress relieving outlet rather than your job.
• Do not take on more than you can chew: Only take on tasks that you can complete with a reasonable amount of effort and time. Do not overwhelm yourself, and ask for help, an extension or extra resources if you are assigned projects you cannot handle alone.

Avoiding or addressing work addiction involves learning to find balance in life. Work addiction does not make you a better employee, friend or family member, but counseling and therapy will.

Are you struggling with a work addiction?

Caring work addiction professionals will help you find stability and set boundaries. Please call our toll-free helpline to voice your concerns, get answers and learn about finding self-worth outside of the workplace. We are here 24 hours a day, so do not spend one more day overwhelmed by work. Call now.

The post Determining Self-Worth through Your Job appeared first on Addiction Help Center.

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 a 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 a 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.

The post What’s Driving Your Work Addiction? appeared first on Addiction Help Center.

What Is a Behavioral Addiction, and How Does Work Become Addictive?

Some behaviors that may become compulsive include the following:

• Stealing
• Shopping
• Having sex
• Viewing pornography
• Using the Internet
• Gambling
• Thrill seeking
• Working

Though maintaining steady employments is crucial for most people, when work becomes something that completely dominates a person’s attention, time and emotions, it is a problem. Some signs of compulsive working include the following:

• Excessive hours spent working
• Choosing to work extra hours even when not expected to by employer
• Inability to engage in other activities without staying in touch with the office
• Defensiveness when confronted with concerns about working
• Choosing to work instead of engaging in activities once enjoyed
• Loss of sleep due to working or obsessing over work issues
• Irritability related to work issues
• Use of substances such as caffeine, alcohol or amphetamines to keep working
• Refusal to take time off from work including vacation time that has been earned

There is a difference between someone who works hard or works long hours and someone who is psychologically addicted to working. Work addiction is often a progressive disease and may lead to other compulsive behaviors.

How to Help a Workaholic

The emotional aspects of behavioral addiction often cause an addict to be unable to admit that he or she has a problem. Defensiveness and denial are powerful, and it is important for the affected loved ones to be direct and compassionate when confronting a workaholic. Advance preparation may include the following:

• Seek the advice of a process addiction expert
• Prepare talking points for the confrontational conversation
• Explore treatment options in advance
• Assuring the workaholic that you are in their corner and will be with them through treatment
• Develop clear and reasonable goals for treatment outcomes

Find Support for Workaholic Treatment

If left untreated compulsive working can destroy relationships, personal health and even the career that the workaholic is obsessed with. Stress can create serious physical side effects including the following:

• Raised blood pressure
• Increased risk of heart attack and stroke
• Ulcers and other gastrointestinal distress
• Sleeplessness
• Depression

Treatment is mostly based on counseling, but depending on the severity of the disorder medication may be used as well. Lasting recovery often requires professional treatment over an extended period of time.

Get Help for Your Workaholic Loved One

If you are concerned that a loved one is a workaholic, please call our toll-free helpline any time. Our counselors can help you identify work addiction in a loved one and can help you develop a plan of action. You can play a crucial role in your loved one’s recovery from compulsive working. Start the process by calling today.

The post Is My Loved One a Workaholic? appeared first on Addiction Help Center.

Understanding Compulsive Working Disorder

Compulsive behavior is a psychological disease. The brain is a complex organ that regulates thousands of human functions through an intricate chemical system. This chemical system can reinforce positive behaviors such as exercise and eating right, but it can also be interrupted by compulsive behaviors such as drinking or overworking. The effect on the brain’s chemistry can lead to addictions that are stronger than rational thought or desire. Compulsive behaviors often lead to difficulties in life. Relationships may become fractured, and physical health may decline. The joy of life is replaced by a constant and stress-fueled adrenaline rush of work. When work becomes compulsive, a number of side effects such as the following may result:

• Constant stress about unfinished work
• Decreased proficiency and productivity on the job
• Ulcers
• Heart problems
• Blood pressure issues
• Depression
• Strained or broken relationships with spouses, children and friends
• Additional addictions as a result of self-medication of these psychological disorders

When a person develops a psychological disorder like compulsive behavior addiction, he or she may attempt to self-medicate through the use various drugs or alcohol. Alcohol can block the emotional anxiety present in the workaholic and may become a co-occurring addiction as a result. It is common to find that workaholics who have not gotten help eventually succumb to substance abuse and addiction.

How to Help a Workaholic-Alcoholic

Anyone struggling with an addiction needs help to get clean and to stay clean. The following steps may help prepare a friend or loved one interested in confronting a workaholic/alcoholic:

• Learn as much as possible about the psychological addiction faced by your loved one
• Seek advice and counsel from trained addiction and compulsive behavior experts
• Develop a calm, loving and rational plan to confront the friend about his or her compulsive disorder
• Explore treatment options and prepare a possible path to recovery
• Speak clearly and succinctly about the effects the workaholic/alcoholic’s disease has on your life
• Offer to walk through the treatment process with your loved one and assure him or her that you are there to help
• Along with your counselor develop proper and healthy treatment outcome goals

Start Helping a Workaholic/Alcoholic Today

The first several steps in helping a workaholic/alcoholic involve seeking the help of specially trained experts. Our toll-free helpline is open 24 hours a day, and our staff is ready to help you. We can answer your questions and help you develop a plan for you and your loved one. We have the expertise and resources to offer you real and meaningful help. For the sake of your friend or loved one and for your own peace of mind, call today.

The post Helping a Workaholic/Alcoholic Get Help appeared first on Addiction Help Center.

• 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 troubles 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 sough 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 aneurisms 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 centers, counselors, 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.

The post Work Addiction Therapy appeared first on Addiction Help Center.

Symptoms of Work Addiction and Workaholism

• Inability to stop working, to stop thinking about work or to take a break from work activities
• Family relationships and friendships suffer from your time spent at work
• Your health has suffered from your work stress and schedule
• You work more than 50 hours per week and still feel like it isn’t enough
• You become physically ill on weekends and holidays
• Your work schedule and stress level has become unhealthy
• You feel that without your job, you would have no identity or purpose in life

How to Get Help for Work Addiction and Still Keep a Job

The biggest concern for any workaholic is how to find balance in life without losing his or her job. There are many options for workaholic recovery and sufferers can choose the method that will allow them to remain productive while getting treatment. Some of these options include the following:

• Inpatient treatment is the absolute best way to find a work-life balance. You will achieve the most effective, long lasting and most efficient treatment this way. By getting a bulk of the help you need in one set time, you can get maximum return on your investment.
• The Family and Medical Leave act is in place to protect you. Double check before entering treatment for any condition, but your employer should provide you with up to 12 weeks of excused leave.
• By finding treatment and balance, former workaholics can gain a fresh perspective on work and learn to perform more efficiently and productively. Workaholics feel as though they are getting more done than the average person. The truth is that workaholics are often so overworked that their work becomes less effective, full of mistakes and hurried.

Workaholic Treatment and Recovery Help

Workaholism is a complicated illness with a variety of causes. Each work addict is different and has different reasons for the addiction.  Uncovering these reasons and finding a supportive network of professionals is essential to finding a healthy life balance in which you can be successful at your career and in your home life as well.

Need Help Finding Workaholic Recovery Resources?

We offer a toll-free 24 hour helpline to assist you. Our counselors can help with everything from planning an intervention for a workaholic to finding the right treatment and therapy options. You owe it to your loved ones and yourself. A new beginning is right around the corner. Call us today.

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There is a distinct difference between a hard worker and a workaholic. A person who simply works hard knows the boundaries between work and personal life. They enjoy leisure time with family and friends and no have no problems functioning outside of their work. A true workaholic cannot function outside of their work, and devote no personal time to family or friends. If a person displays signs of being a workaholic, an intervention may be the only thing that can help them.

How an Intervention Works

An intervention is a structured meeting between a workaholic and his or her family members and close loved ones, as well as a professional interventionist. The goal of an intervention is to help the workaholic come to terms with his or her addiction and to agree to enter a treatment program.

An intervention is usually a two-step process. First, the workaholic’s family and loved ones meet with an interventionist to learn about the intervention process and about the disease of addiction. This precursor to the actual intervention is where each person learns his or her specific role in the intervention and the whole event is carefully planned out. The second step involves meeting with the workaholic. Hopefully, after each family member has had a chance to express his or her love and concern, the workaholic will agree to enter a treatment program. If the intervention is a success, then the interventionist and/or a family member will escort the workaholic to a rehab facility.

The following steps are an example of what each family member might say when addressing a workaholic:

• Letting the workaholic know how much he means to others, and they are worth saving
• Motivating the workaholic to willingly seek out treatment and to participate in the recovery process
• Willingness to learn about the recovery process so that they can help the workaholic in any way possible
• Willingness to help the workaholic transition back into the family and other social environments after treatment is completed.

Interventions can be a “surprise,” where the addicted individual is unaware that she is walking into an intervention. Interventions can also be invitational. The idea of an invitational intervention sometimes scoffed at, but they can be surprisingly successful. In an invitational intervention, the addicted individual is asked to take part in the entire process. This can be beneficial in comparison to a surprise intervention because it makes the addicted individual an empowered part of the process. This eliminates the chance of an angry response that is possible with surprise interventions.

Workaholic Intervention Help

If you have a loved one you suspect is a workaholic, we are here to help you. Call our toll-free number today and we will assist you in finding all the information you need to set up an intervention. We are available 24-hours a day to answer your call, so there is no reason to wait.

The post Workaholic Intervention appeared first on Addiction Help Center.

In some instances, the many accomplishments resulting from addictive work patterns unfortunately do not satisfy. The work addict with this types of addiction is driven to perform even harder and accomplish even more due to the inability to relax, feel and smell the scent of potential success. These intense work schedules and associated behaviors can be symptomatic of underlying issues, insecurities and a skewed self-image. In many instances, the workaholic behaviors are self-imposed but not based on an accurate perception of oneself. The work addict can also use work much like the alcoholic uses liquor to self-medicate, manage, control and avoid feelings.

Workaholic Styles

Bryan Robinson, PhD, one of the nation’s leading researchers on the disorder and author of Chained to the Desk and other books on workaholism, says, “Overall, workaholics tend to be less effective than other workers because it’s difficult for them to be team players, they have trouble delegating or entrusting co-workers or they take on so much that they aren’t as organized as others.”
In fact, his research indicates four distinct workaholic working styles:

• The bulimic workaholic feels the job must be done perfectly or not at all. Bulimic workaholics often can’t get started on projects and then scramble to complete it by deadline, often frantically working to the point of exhaustion- with sloppy results.
• The relentless workaholic is the adrenaline junkie who often takes on more work than can possibly be done. In an attempt to juggle too many balls, they often work too fast or are too busy for careful, thorough results.
• The attention-deficit workaholic often starts with fury, but fails to finish projects — often because they lose interest for another project. They often savor the brainstorming aspects but get easily bored with the necessary details or follow-through.
• The savoring workaholic is slow, methodical and overly scrupulous. They often have trouble letting go of projects and don’t work well with others. These are often consummate perfectionists, frequently missing deadlines because “it’s not perfect.”

Assessing Work Addiction vs. Hard Work

It is important to differentiate between someone who has a Type A personality and is an extremely hard worker and someone who demonstrates the characteristics of the work addiction syndrome. The Type A worker appears like he/she is a workaholic, yet they always demonstrate the ability to set healthy boundaries when needed. When the work addict gains the insight into his/her unhealthy patterns, they demonstrate a loss of control or an inability to self-regulate their schedule and set healthy limits. In spite of serious negative consequences, the individual suffering from work addiction syndrome will continue to act out the negative pattern affecting their life.

Consistent with sexual addiction or eating disorders, denial can play a major factor in the work addict’s ability to reach out for help. The denial factor can prevent the impaired business professional from seeing or experiencing the reality of his/her life. They have an altered perception when it applies to this area of their life. In many instances, the workaholic possesses an over developed “sense of self” as it applies to their career. The professional’s career takes on the importance of defining who they are, not what they do.

Evaluating Work Addiction

In today’s world of buyouts, mergers, takeovers, downsizing, etc., it is not unusual to find businesses and/or organizations unknowingly encouraging and supporting work addiction. In fact it’s encouraged as many businesses and corporations are under economic downsizing pressures, with more work and fewer employees. Many large corporations are either uninformed or in denial of the serious problems incurred as a direct result of this syndrome therefore going untreated. These problems can range from low morale, substance abuse, excess stress, workplace harassment, various personal problems (i.e. divorce), and above average absenteeism. This dynamic can ultimately create a state of tension and chaos in the workplace. Employees affected by this behavior will often describe feelings associated with living-on-the-edge in the work environment of the work addict or the addicted organization.

Assessing the life balance component for any business professional can provide extremely valuable insight into his/her personal and professional life so be sure to ask the appropriate questions regarding both of these components.

Work Addiction Help

If you or someone you know is struggling with a work addiction, we can help. Please call our toll free number at (877) 259-5635. We are available 24 hours a day to answer your questions on work addiction treatment.

The post Work Addiction Overview appeared first on Addiction Help Center.

Symptoms of Work Addiction

Here are eight symptoms indicating a work addiction:

• Approval-seeking—The workaholic’s identity is in their work; it justifies their existence and is a means of gaining approval from others.
• Low self-esteem—Overly concerned with image, workaholics believe that overworking earns them admiration.
• Control issues—They work to cope with life’s uncertainties and try to gain a measure of control over the otherwise uncontrollable.
• Authority issues—They are prone to succumbing to figures of authority in a search for approval, even if it means surrendering or lowering themselves.
• Perfectionism—They tend to make unreasonable demands upon themselves. They may or may not extend this expectation to those around them, both at work and in their personal relationships.
• Escapism—They also use work as a means of escaping having to deal with real-world emotions and feelings.
• Preoccupation with work—Like clinical addicts, workaholics overwork and, when not at work, obsess about it to the point that their lives become out of balance which negatively affects their own health as well as their relationships.
• Lying—They may begin to lie, to themselves and others, about their work habits. They also may lie about past successes and failures, exaggerating the former and minimizing or falsifying the latter.

The Work Addiction Syndrome Checklist

These are some questions that a potential work addict can ask themselves to identify if they have a problem that needs to be addressed.

1. How much time do you spend working, and how much time do you spend with family, friends, etc.? Is your work schedule causing problems in your family or social life?
2. Do you feel out of control or powerless at times when it comes to setting limits, going home or quitting work for the day?
3. Are you having a difficult time enjoying the “fruits” of your labors in spite of the financial success or being respected and admired in your company or industry?
4. Do you break promises to yourself, family or friends regarding work time, travel schedules and other related employment activities?
5. Do you have difficulty “letting go” and delegating work?
6. Has your work patterns affected intimate friendships, and/or important social activities you once enjoyed such as vacations, fishing, sports, museums or reading?
7. When on vacation, is it difficult to relax and disengage from work, therefore interrupting or contaminating your vacation time with family or friends? (Phone calls, laptop, pagers)
8. Has your physical health deteriorated due to an excessive work schedule? Have you continued to “push the needle into the red” in spite of warnings from your doctor, psychologist, colleague or boss?
9. Have you surprised yourself at how easy you “fly off the handle” or “lose it” these days? Are people in your life having to “tip toe” around you due to this volatility? Is this different than you use to be?
10. Have you unsuccessfully attempted to cut down or stop from overworking, over committing, staying at the office, etc. Do you promise to spend more time at home, going to the gym or golf course and not following through?

If you answered yes to three or more of these questions, you may be suffering from the work addiction syndrome.

Levels of Work Addiction

There are levels at which these work addict symptoms tend to manifest themselves more evidently. Like with any addiction, catching it in its earlier stages proves to be more successful in dealing with withdrawal effects.

• Early Stage. In this stage of work addiction, the worker tends to be constantly busy and tends to take on more than can realistically be done. He or she will put in lots of extra hours (even if not paid for the overtime) and cannot seem to find time to take days off.
• Middle Stage. At this level of workaholism, our addict begins to distance themselves from personal relationships. When at home, the workaholic is distracted and emotionally stays at work. At this stage, the physical tolls often begin to manifest themselves. They may have trouble unwinding enough to get to sleep. They may feel tired all the time. They may tend to see a change in weight (gain or loss).
• Late Stage. Those who are in the late stage of work addiction now tend to find the more serious physical and emotional symptoms like chronic headaches, elevated blood pressure, stomach ulcers and increased risk of stroke. (It can be as physically harmful as other addictions).

Work Addiction Help

If you or someone you know is struggling with a work addiction, we can help. Please call our toll free number. We are available 24 hours a day to answer your questions on work addiction and work addiction treatment.

The post Signs and Symptoms of Work Addiction appeared first on Addiction Help Center.