Work addiction (workaholism)
Work addiction, or workaholism, is an excessive, compulsive involvement in work that the person cannot stop, at the expense of their health and personal life. At Reconectar we treat it with outpatient, individual therapy in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, in confidence.
What is work addiction?
Work addiction or workaholism is a compulsive need to work that goes well beyond what the job or the financial situation requires. The person cannot switch off: they think about work constantly, feel anxious when they are not busy and sacrifice rest, leisure and relationships in order to keep producing.
It differs from healthy commitment in that it does not come from enjoyment or responsibility, but from an inner tension that is hard to calm. It is often socially well regarded and even rewarded, which means it is recognised late, when it has already taken a toll on health.
Symptoms and warning signs
Work addiction easily hides behind responsibility and ambition. These are some signs that help to identify it.
- Inability to switch off, even on holiday or days off.
- Anxiety, guilt or irritability when not working.
- Systematically extending the working day and taking work home.
- A constant sense of urgency and that nothing is ever enough.
- Neglecting health, rest and relationships in order to work.
- Difficulty delegating and extreme perfectionism.
Causes
Work addiction usually rests on personal factors such as perfectionism, the need for approval, low self-esteem or difficulty tolerating uncertainty. For many people work becomes the main, or the only, source of identity and personal worth.
Environmental factors also have an influence: work cultures that reward permanent availability, financial pressure or the use of work as a way to avoid personal, emotional or relationship problems. Keeping busy becomes a way of not feeling.
Consequences
Excess work sustained over time has a high cost for physical health: chronic fatigue, insomnia, digestive problems, muscle tension and greater cardiovascular risk. The usual outcome is exhaustion or burnout.
On an emotional level, anxiety, irritability and depressive symptoms appear. Within the family, absence and a lack of real presence generate distance, conflict and, in many cases, breakups. Paradoxically, over time productivity itself suffers.
Treatment at Reconectar
At Reconectar we treat work addiction with an outpatient, individual and personalised approach in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, confidentially and compatible with your working life.
We work with cognitive therapy to review the beliefs that sustain over-involvement, such as the idea that personal worth depends on performance, and with motivational techniques that drive change. The goal is to restore balance: to learn to switch off, to set limits and to find sources of wellbeing beyond work, looking after your health and relationships.
Symptoms and signs
- Inability to switch off from work.
- Anxiety or guilt when not working.
- Systematically extending the working day.
- A constant sense of urgency.
- Neglecting health and rest in order to work.
- Difficulty delegating and extreme perfectionism.
- Thinking about work outside working hours.
- Sacrificing leisure and relationships for work.
Consequences
- Chronic fatigue and insomnia.
- Greater cardiovascular risk and physical problems.
- Exhaustion or burnout.
- Anxiety, irritability and depressive symptoms.
- Distance and family conflict.
- Relationship breakups.
- Social isolation and giving up leisure.
- A drop in performance in the long term.
FAQ
Treat your addiction at Reconectar
We are a private centre in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. We offer individual, personalised, drug-free treatment with no hospitalisation. Get in touch with complete discretion and confidentiality.