Our culture honors hard work to the point of sometimes worshiping it, so often we cannot see the tendencies of our hardworking nature to cross into the realm of addiction. Because working is praised by society and is necessary for well-being, it can hard for a person to admit that they have an unhealthy attachment to a good thing. With other addictions, specifically chemical dependency, the person attaches to something viewed as negative. But because work is a positive thing, the attachment isn’t always seen as negative.
Like other addictive behavior, the person starts to feel better when engaged with the behavior of working. When s/he is more comfortable in the work setting than at home or engaged in leisure and previously enjoyable activities, it can be a sign of a problem.
Another indicator of work becoming problematic is when the individual feels powerless to make necessary changes, such as stopping the habits of going in early and staying extra late. Thanks to the digital age, it’s more and more challenging to avoid working in the evenings or on the weekends and the compulsion to “check just one email” turns into hours of attention toward the office.
As a consequence, the individual becomes more and more isolated from family and friends, which continues the cycle of feeling more comfortable while engaging in the addictive behavior.
The good news: a change in thinking and behavior can help reframe work into a healthy place in a person’s life. If someone is noticing some of the indicators that the attachment to work goes beyond a healthy relationship, the person can reach out to a support system to seek accountability. Having loving voices (preferably outside of the immediate family, who typically have been asking for these changes) challenge the number of hours a person tends to working matters can help bring awareness. A text message to say, “what time did you get to the office?” or “I think it’s time to leave” can bring awareness back to the tempting behavior to continue until all the work is “complete.”
Try to put meaningful work in it’s rightful place as an element of a whole and satisfying life – rather than being life itself.

By Jayne Williams, LPCC, LICDC