(NaturalPath) According to a large, national Norwegian study out of the University of Bergen and published in the journal PLOS One, found that workaholism frequently co-occurs with ADHD, OCD, anxiety, and depression. This study included 16,426 working adults.
“Workaholics scored higher on all the psychiatric symptoms than non-workaholics,” said one researcher.
The study found that among workaholics, 32.7 percent met the criteria for ADHD, which is significantly higher than the 12.7 percent among non-workaholics. Additionally, 25.6 percent were OCD (8.7 percent among non-workaholics), 33.8 percent met anxiety criteria (11.9 percent) and 8.9 percent met depression criteria (2.6 percent).
The researcher went on to elaborate by saying, “Thus taking work to the extreme may be a sign of deeper psychological or emotional issues. Whether this reflects overlapping genetic vulnerabilities, disorders leading to workaholism or conversely, workaholism causing such disorders remain uncertain.”
The seven criteria the researchers used to determine whether someone was a workaholic were illuminating. They included asking the participants whether they
- Think of how they can free up more time to work
- spend much more time working than initially intended
- Work in order to reduce feelings of guilt, anxiety, helplessness or depression
- Have been told by others to cut down on work without listening to them
- Have become stressed if you are prohibited from working
- Deprioritize hobbies, leisure activities, and/or exercise because of your work
- Work so much that is has negatively influenced their health
Through this survey of questions, the researchers could label someone as a workaholic if they said often or always on four or more of the criteria.
Workaholism is dangerous and could be a sign of other psychological issues. Be careful of prioritizing work over other activities.
Razi Berry, Founder and Publisher of Naturopathic Doctor News & Review (ndnr.com) and NaturalPath (thenatpath.com), has spent the last decade as a natural medicine advocate and marketing whiz. She has galvanized and supported the naturopathic community, bringing a higher quality of healthcare to millions of North Americans through her publications. A self-proclaimed health-food junkie and mother of two; she loves all things nature, is obsessed with organic gardening, growing fruit trees (not easy in Phoenix), laughing until she snorts, and homeschooling. She is a little bit crunchy and yes, that is her real name.