Work addiction , or Who needs to see a psychologist

Many employees jokingly call themselves workaholics, putting a positive meaning into this concept. Indeed, workaholism is generally encouraged by society, and in many companies such people are considered a real find. What's wrong if a person loves work and cares about the common cause? But when industriousness develops into some kind of addiction, with a high degree of probability, emotional exhaustion, depression will develop, and even physical HEALTH may be impaired. How to distinguish love for work and workaholism, Igor Savitsky, a psychologist of the rehabilitation department, a specialist in working with chemical addiction, co-dependence of the Minsk Regional Clinical Center "Psychiatry-Narcology", told in an interview with BelTA.

- To begin with, let's figure out whether it is possible to put an equal sign between such concepts as workaholism and love of work?

- No, workaholism is not equal to love of work. Workaholism is a painful addiction when a person suffers from excessive zeal, an uncontrollable desire, an obsession with work. Moreover, it does this to the detriment of all other interests and vital matters. At some stage, a person can enjoy, but eventually there are consequences. This process is comparable to gambling, there are similar mechanisms between them.

Workaholism itself is not a separate disease, at least in the International Classification of Diseases there is no such concept. However, there is a problem.

- Do you think workaholism is a form of non-chemical addiction or just a maladaptation of social behavior?

- In my opinion, this is a way to get away from some kind of problem. Faced with discomfort, anxiety, problem situations, a person seeks salvation, escapes from reality. Someone hangs in the computer, someone is immersed in reading, someone goes into ALCOHOL . However, it is important to understand: running away from some difficulties, you can acquire others.

Let's take a real life situation. If there are intense emotional relationships in the family, one of the spouses begins to spend more time at work. He explains his absence by the increased number of tasks and business trips. As a result, a lump of reproaches grows, which often leads to even greater misunderstanding and even the breakup of the family.

The inner fear of not being successful or the fear of not having money can also lead to workaholism - it will become a painful way to satisfy the need for respect and at all costs avoid worrying about the possible loss of a job. As a result, a person achieves a career, earns well, but his family suffers: in addition to material support, children themselves need much more parents, their attention and care.

Moreover, the workaholic has a strong internal conflict. On the one hand, love for a spouse and children, obligations to the family, on the other hand, a painful addiction that cannot be controlled. A person feels guilty, worried, his interests and values ​​suffer. In general, if an individual pays more attention to some area, and becomes fanatical, this creates serious tension in himself. It is possible that in the future there will be health problems, exacerbation of chronic diseases.

What are the symptoms of a workaholism problem?

- There are three main criteria by which, in my opinion, you can clearly diagnose the problem. First, an inner sense of compulsion. As if something is resisting inside a person, but he forces himself to work. Secondly, constant, even on weekends, thoughts and conversations about work. An addicted person, being alone with himself, is not able to have a normal time, recover, take a break from social contacts, which is especially important among the bustle of the city. The third criterion is work above the norm, to the detriment of other areas and interests in life.

If you have these symptoms, you can talk about the presence of workaholism. How quickly it will progress depends on many factors. For some, the disease state worsens very quickly, literally in months, destroying the personality. Other people feel good for years.

- Did you address such problems to the center where you work?

- As long as I have been working, we have never received patients complaining specifically about workaholism. Perhaps this is some kind of unique situation. In addition, workaholism is not as destructive as ALCOHOLISM. And in general, to work, to work is a socially recognized, socially approved privilege.

At the same time, workaholism is a problem not only for a particular person, but also for those who live with him. For some people, fatigue from constant work can develop into anxiety, depression, depression. Naturally, conflicts arise in relationships. Until a person himself begins to understand the true reason, he cannot be helped.

- As a specialist working with various chemical addictions, can you confirm the link between alcohol abuse and long hours of work?

- For alcoholics, going into workaholism is one of the types of a kind of protective compulsive, very tense, anxious behavior. There are many good workers among alcoholics, many talented people. But the issue is that they often go to work to cope with the alcoholic stress. They say so: in order not to drink, I will go to work. Moreover, there is no objective need to work so much.

A person with alcohol addiction switches for a while. Yes, he forgets about his strong, obsessive desire to use. He needs to go to a group of anonymous alcoholics to keep himself in good psychological condition, and he continues to work automatically, forgetting about himself. At the same time, tension builds up, but the person is not aware of its source. It gets even harder for him. Naturally, many then break down and start drinking again.

- What would you recommend to people who may suffer from workaholism?

- If we consider workaholism as some kind of attempt to escape from real problems, we can offer a standard psychological approach. A person needs to analyze what specifically has become unbearable for him, what he is running away from and why he gets pleasure only with the help of a painful addiction. It should be an honest inner conversation with yourself. Everyone will surely have their own reasons. If a person admits that the situation is unhealthy, he can turn to specialists, including our center.

BELTA.