Workaholism: how to deal with it

By Cristiano Antonino On Apr 11, 2023

The term workaholism (work addiction) was introduced by Oates in 1971 by combining the word ‘work’ and the word ‘alcoholism’ to describe work addiction. Schaufeli, Taris, and Bakker (2008) defined workaholism as “the tendency to work excessively in a compulsive manner”

In order to be able to speak of work addiction, the simultaneous presence of work behaviour tending towards excess and an inner drive (compulsion) that drives the individual towards such excesses is necessary.

What is workaholism?

Workaholism is associated in the literature with behavioural addiction (Rohrlich, 1981; Fassel, 1992; Robinson, 1998b, 2001; Albrecht, Kirschner, & Grusser, 2007). According to Griffiths (2005; 2011) there are six criteria typical of other forms of dependency:

Salience: work represents the most important activity in a person’s life, dominating his or her thinking and behaviour even outside the work place and time.

Mood transformation: work is associated with mood states that can range from excitement to sadness to tranquillity.

Tolerance: the workaholic feels compelled to gradually increase the amount of time spent on work activities.

Abstinence: the workaholic suffers physically and psychologically (irritability, mood swings) from situations in which he/she is not allowed to work (holiday periods, illness, etc.).

Conflicts: difficulties in interpersonal relationships (colleagues, family, friends) gradually emerge. The person with work addiction may begin to be criticised by others for his or her difficulty in ‘detaching’ from work.

Relapse: after periods in which the worker has managed to manage his or her dependence on work activities, he or she relapses into excessive behaviour.

Dispositional antecedents of work addiction

In a paradigm that sees workaholism as an addiction, workaholism behaviour may have the psychological function of avoiding negative feelings (Porter, 1996) or regulating their intensity.

Being characterised by goal-oriented values (to the detriment of interpersonal, relational goals) can also lead to one’s efforts being directed towards work success, with high levels of ambition (Schwartz, 1992).

Socio-cultural antecedents of workaholism

Some studies (Matthews & Halbrook, 1990) report that people from ‘dysfunctional’ families will be more likely to seek out highly stressful types of work as they have become accustomed to stressors within the home.

Similarly, vicarious learning (Bandura, 1986) can also lead to imitating workaholic behaviour.

In this case, people may be influenced by roles and figures within the family (parents, peers, friends, significant others) or in organisational-work contexts, such as superiors, mentors or colleagues in general (Ng et al., 2007).

Work addiction and personality aspects

Clark, Livesley, Schroeder, & Irish (1996) found a positive correlation between workaholism and obsessive compulsive personality characteristics.

This link, in order to be diagnostically significant, must manifest itself in every area of the patient’s life (family, friends, romantic relationships, etc.) and not exclusively in work activities.

Symptomatological consequences of workaholism

Workaholics report more critical values, compared to other worker profiles, with regard to the sphere of physical and psychological health.

In particular, they may manifest greater psychosomatic symptoms and lower physical and emotional well-being (McMillan et al., 2001).

Consequences on psychological well-being of work addiction

The excessive energies put into their work activities by workaholics seem to affect the goodness of interpersonal relationships both within work organisations and in everyday life.

Some authors have identified a negative relationship between workaholism and conflict between colleagues (Porter, 2001) and on the family side (Robinson & Post, 1997; Robinson, 1998a; Robinson, Flowers, & Carrol, 2001).

In general, the literature on the subject shows that work addicts present: appreciable difficulties in communication, poor participation in family activities and generally less emotional involvement in relationships.

Psychotherapeutic treatment of work addiction

The psychotherapeutic course should include a preliminary psychiatric assessment, aimed at planning a possible psychopharmacological treatment in support of the psychological intervention.

Psychotherapy should in any case focus on helping the patient to develop or enhance: empathy, relational openness, the ability to identify, recognise and then express emotions, mentalise and regulate affects by using them in personal relationships in an appropriate way aiming at greater inner autonomy, and not just apparent independence.

Family or couples therapy can be useful to rebuild communication, restore trust between the subjects and foster intimacy through emotional sharing.

Self-help groups can play an important role, as they allow the person to experience a sense of belonging, the importance of experiencing interpersonal relationships, make others experience others as interested, and allow for authentic relationships.

Individual psychotherapeutic treatment of the patient with work addiction should support the patient in: