Does Being a Workaholic Cause Health Issues?

Most people will nod their heads when someone asks them if being a workaholic is a bad thing. The word “workaholic” itself shows that it is a kind of addiction. Back in 1998, even the United States seemed to have the highest rates of workaholics who used to work for more than 50 hours per week.

We generally know that working for long hours may cause health issues in our body. But do you know what kind of health issues it causes and how it affects our body parts? Read on to uncover what workaholism is and its effects and measures.

What Does Workaholism Mean?

The term workaholism was described as “the uncontrollable need to work constantly” by minister and psychologist Wayne Oates in the year 1971. Since then workaholism has been defined as the person who is addicted to work and they are also characterized by having an inner pressure of working hard, think about work constantly, feeling guilty for not being able to work and getting frustrated or restless when they can’t work.

Workaholism and Health Issues

It shows that working hours does not have any impacts on one’s health, whereas being a workaholic causes health concerns both physically and mentally, sometimes it affects your personal relationship too. Here are some of the common health issues caused due to being overly concentrated on work.

• Loneliness
• Insomnia
• Depression
• Anxiety
• High and low blood pressure
• Cardiovascular disease
• Diabetes and
• Sometimes death

Sometimes working for long hours might lead to mental health problems like bipolar disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder(OCD).

5 Signs That You Are an Workaholic

• Thinking about how you can add up more time to work.
• Working for extended hours than your actual period.
• If you work in order to get rid of the guilt, anxiety, stress and depression.
• Getting stressed if you are forbidden from work.
• Having health issues caused due to extended hours of working.

Can You Overcome Work Addiction?

The good news is that there are tremendous ways to overcome work addiction, but the thing is one should accept the fact that they are being workaholic. Here are some simple ways to overcome work addiction.

• Set a certain time limit for your work.
• Schedule other activities after your work is over
• You can also take stress leave to relax yourself
• Spend some quality time with family and friends
• Make yourself busy with physical activity or yoga.
• Seek help from therapist or counselor

“They simply don’t have enough distance from themselves to see what is actually happening. They are so focused on getting their validation through work that they may fail to see the cost to relationships or their health,” says Terry McDougall, an author and a career coach who helps people to manage or balance their work life.

Being workaholic is a good thing or a bad thing, depending upon the person’s working hours.

There are people who work for long hours and stay healthy. If a person is working a lot, it doesn’t mean that they are workaholic, there are certain professions where they may need to work for long hours. So it is important to lead a healthy life without compromising our work lifestyle.