Work hard – work harder?!
Workaholism: 4 signs you’re at risk
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According to a study, every tenth worker is addicted to work. What clues might point to that.
It’s 8 p.m., most of the employees have long since left the building, and the lights in the corridors are switched off. Only in one office is a computer screen still flickering, in front of which a person with deep black eyes is sitting. At eight o’clock he entered the building punctually and declined a morning coffee with his colleagues because he “wanted to get something done quickly”. He also skipped lunch, he “had something with him”. But not really. Twelve hours of work lie behind him and there seems to be no end in sight.
The case described may be fictitious – but the phenomenon behind it is not. The Federal Institute for Vocational Training (bibb) and the Technical University of Braunschweig have one study carried out, which shows that around ten percent of employees in Germany work “excessively and compulsively”. According to the bibb press release, these people are significantly more likely to suffer from physical or psychosomatic complaints. But when does one speak of a workaholism and what are the signs? We have put together all the important information in this article.
What “workaholic” means
“In our study, we define workaholism as the combined occurrence of excessive and compulsive work,” explains Beatrice van Berk, a co-author of the study, in an interview with the Tagesschau. “Excessive” here means that, for example, one is often in a race against time or doing several things at the same time, according to the scientist. This can be the case if you – constantly – want to get something done “quickly” or are working on several sources of fire at the same time. A guilty conscience in leisure time and the inability to part with work is an indication of “compulsive” work, according to van Berk. This is opposed to “work commitment”, which is characterized by the fact that someone enjoys their work and has a passion for their job.
The study surveyed over 8,000 employees from Germany between October 2017 and May 2018 and the results show that there is a clear connection between addictive work and poorer health. Particularly problematic: The subjective self-assessment of the state of health and the number of reported psychosomatic complaints make the connection empirically clear – but this is contradicted by the fact that addicted workers pay little attention to medical treatment and recovery. The study did not examine in detail why people tend to work addictively.
How do you know you’re at risk?
According to the scientist van Berk, one possible indication of being addicted to work could be, for example, that on vacation or in your free time you find it very difficult to switch off and not check your work e-mails. A guilty conscience when not working (due to vacation or illness) can also indicate that you suffer from workaholism.
Permanent physical and psychological complaints can also be an indication. Psychosomatic complaints would indicate an unhealthy relationship to work, explains van Berk. These include, among others:
- fatigue
- dejection
- emotional and physical exhaustion
As the results of other studies show, these complaints have a strong connection with burnout and depression, van Berk continues. And these illnesses are associated with long absences from work, which is why prevention is required.
As the findings of the study show, workaholics pay little attention to the symptoms of their illness. Psychologist Kimberly Breuer explains to the “Handelsblatt” that those affected usually see no connection between their symptoms (such as sudden hearing loss, cardiovascular problems or back pain) and their own work attitude: “Those affected are often not even aware that the cause of these physical symptoms can be psychological in nature. They then only try to fight the symptoms instead of the cause.”
Social life – or the lack of it – can also be an indication of a workaholism, the psychologist continues. “Workaholics often find less fulfillment outside of work – i.e. in leisure activities or with social contacts.”
Where workaholism is more common
According to the study, there is a “statistically highly significant connection between addictive work and management responsibility”. Job addiction is more prevalent among managers than among other workers (12.4 percent vs. 8.7 percent) – the higher the management level, the more pronounced the addictive work tends to be. At 16.6 percent, there is a high proportion of workaholic behavior in the upper management level.
According to the results of the study, the self-employed also work addictively more often, which seems understandable to the researchers insofar as there is a lack of “company regulations” for the self-employed that could counteract addictive work. Addictive work tends to occur more frequently in small companies, which the scientists see as an indication of a connection between operational regulation and addictive work.
Sources used: bibb.de, tagesschau.de, degruyter.com, handelsblatt.com