Earlier we posted about a test that allowed us to determine whether or not we were workaholics? Today we continue that discussion, specifically about the negatives of being a workaholic and how it directly relates to other addictions such as alcohol or drugs.
Mario Lebanon, a researcher at the University Jaume I of Castellan, and colleagues at the University of Utrecht have clearly identified the nature of this addiction-related disease demonstrating the negative results of workaholism including an indication that the greater the level of addiction the greater the decrease in happiness and health that these people have.
Their research refutes the thoughts of a few years ago, when it was believed that a total and absolute, almost obsessive commitment to employment was positive and related to high productivity.
The results of this workaholism study that came up with the profile of a workaholic were obtained through the examination of the behavior of 2714 workers, of which 2164 were Spanish, and another 550 were from the Netherlands. In the study, the profile of workaholic is formed from two criteria: excessive Work and pleasure.
In the first case these are people who can not stop working and if they do, they feel anxious and guilty. They spend 50 hours a week in the office, do two jobs at the same time, come out first and often last release or go regularly to the job on weekends and holidays.
These are people are most often between 35 and 45, their jobs carry high levels of responsibility and require the execution of high level skilled tasks. This profile does not know what to do if their work runs out and make sure they always have something to work at steadily. The feelings they experience when work is slow are very similar to that of withdrawal symptoms from drug addiction.
But besides all this, there is the view of the disengagement and pleasure, in the words of Jose Maria Vazquez-Roel, head of Capistrano center specializing in the treatment of addictions, “These are people with features that offer a chance to grow, to enhance creativity, to learn, develop, evolve, features all very exciting and with a high addictive potential burden. Keep in mind that, like any addictive chemical substance, this activity provides pleasure, relief, disconnected from the real world, like compulsive gamblers .