Work Addiction

Dr. Ezgi Şişman
Kocaeli City Hospital, Psychiatry Clinic, Kocaeli, Türkiye

ABSTRACT

In today’s world, with advances in technology, working conditions are evolving rapidly and individuals feel the need to keep up with these changes. Workplaces, in turn, expect high performance from their employees. All these factors can lead to excessive working hours and behaviour. Work addiction, or workaholism, is a beha- vioural addiction that causes psychological and physical distress and is difficult to recognise due to modern circumstances. Various researchers have proposed different classifications of work addiction. Biologically, it is thought to be linked to the dopamine and adrenaline systems. It is also associated with obsessive-compulsive and narcissistic personality traits. It is emphasised that workaholics often took on parental roles during their childhood. It is noted that similar traits may be observed in the children of work addicts, and their partners may experience feelings of guilt. Because it often goes unrecognised as a clinical condition, individuals and families are not referred for help at an early stage, making it more difficult to initiate treatment than for other addictions. Workaholism not only harms the individual and their family, but also leads to a decline in work performance. Workaholism is often associated with psychiatric disorders such as anxiety, attention deficit hy- peractivity disorder (ADHD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and sleep disorders. Psychotherapies are prominent in the treatment of workaholism.

Keywords: Addiction medicine; Behavioral symptoms; Occupational health; Time management; Compulsive behavior; Burnout, professional; Occupational diseases; Perfectionism

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