Usually, when we talk about men facing challenges related to addiction it is a chemical but behavior patterns can release chemicals into your brain that cause addictions too. While sometimes this is a generally negative experience - seeking out danger or too much casual sex, for instance, other times it can actually be a generally positive thing such as being addicted to work. The term "workaholic" is a joke for many people but for others ... it can be a serious challenge that they need to seek help to overcome.
Budding entrepreneurs all know the value of hard work. However, it’s important to understand that every now and then, you might be putting a little too many hours into your job. Overworking yourself is never a good sign. While it’s admirable that you want to work lots of hours to see your company flourish or your idea become successful, developing a dependency on your work can actually lead to many problems in the future.
Most importantly, you need to be careful of developing an addiction to your work.
In this post, we’re going to talk about how people get addicted to work, what they can do to break out of it, and also how they can seek advice if they’re struggling to overcome their addictive personality.
Are You Addicted To Your Work?
First, how do we define if someone is addicted to work?
Work addiction, or workaholism, is used to describe someone that feels they need to work constantly. Despite it being a term that has been used for decades, it’s actually not a formally-recognized medical condition or a mental disorder. As such, it’s often difficult to understand what being addicted to work actually means.
However, we can generally follow the guidelines for other addictions and apply it to work. As such, if you experience the following things regarding your work, then it’s possible that you have an addiction:
You feel like you spend more hours at work but you’re not being more productive.
Your relationships are suffering as a result of your need to work.
Your health is declining because you’re working too much.
You feel like working maintains your self-worth.
You work to take your mind off other mental issues or problems in your life.
You work to get away from other people.
You feel horrible when you’re unable to work.
Your manager has expressed concern over your work hours.
You feel jittery at work when you’re unable to work.
You ignore people who express concern about how much you’re working.
You think about how you can free up more of your time to spend on work.
If you know you’ve experienced one or several of these feelings, then you could have developed an addiction to your work.
The Consequences Of Ignoring An Addiction To Work
There are many different consequences that can come from your addiction to work. For example, you may resort to taking different kinds of substances just to make more time for work or to improve your performance. This may lead from a work addiction to a substance addiction which can be extremely damaging to your physical and mental health.
If you feel like you’re about to reach this stage, then you may want to seek out a rehabilitation clinic such as Enterhealth to help you out. People often find that their addictions get progressively worse if they’re ignored, thus why many people with addictive personalities ultimately find themselves relying on drugs or medication to help them cope.
Overworking Due To Addiction Is Different From Advancing Your Career
Contrary to popular belief, work addiction doesn’t actually mean that you’re advancing your career or doing well at work. Since the addiction is usually rooted in a need to fill some kind of emotion or feeling, most people that develop an addiction to work aren’t doing it because they want to advance their careers. That’s a completely different case of overworking and it’s important to differentiate the two.
While overworking is never a good thing, it’s understandable if someone wants to work more hours because they want to see their company be successful or if the company they work for is facing staffing issues and they’re being asked to put in a few extra shifts. That’s perfectly understandable and is one of the main issues that you’ll face when it comes to running a business. On the other hand, developing an addiction to your work is extremely problematic and will eventually lead to mental and physical health problems.
Addiction is one of the top health challenges that all people face. It affects us both mentally and physically, making it one of the biggest threats not just to our success, but to our life in general. It’s vital that you seek out the right professional help if you believe that you’ve developed an addiction to work, but it’s also a good idea to surround yourself with positivity to help overcome those negative feelings that you’ll eventually associate with your work.
