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Workaholism leads to health problems, work addiction risk depends on occupation

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Re: Workaholism leads to health problems, work addiction risk depends on occupation

#31

Post by Enginerrrd »

eloff wrote: post #18

I think one needs to distinguish between being a workaholic for some corporation and doing it because you're starting a company or working for yourself. The former is obviously going to be painful and the latter might not even feel that much like work. Maybe I'm just justifying because I'm definitely a workaholic, and I'm in the second scenario and it feels totally sustainable. The first scenario I also did, and it w…

I agree with all of this, though it's possible I'm also just justifying it to myself. I will say though that 8 hours working for someone else felt like a grind... but I can easily do 10-12 if I give myself an interesting project to work on. It feels really meaningful to me...

Re: Workaholism leads to health problems, work addiction risk depends on occupation

#32

Post by xur17 »

trianglem wrote: post #24
vmception wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was most focused on my career after a breakup. The structure of the work environment coupled with the reward is pretty unparalleled. Other things I can think of with structure usually have a kind of endless goal that can't be spent at your discretion. Rehab, fitness, organized religion. I've never done rehab, but it seems to overlap with fitness where even if you gamify it with achievements, its not like a game at…

I find all of this so hard to relate with. I’ve worked for a decade, have a high paying job and have been promoted multiple times but to me none of it is enjoyable. I don’t think I could ever be happy in a situation where I’m required to do something for 9 hours everyday. I can’t get around the idea that all of this a weak abstraction to make money and care very little for approval from authority figures.

I think it depends upon the environment. What the GP said definitely resonates with me, but only at places where I had a large amount of control over what I worked on, and felt like my decisions / work affected the outcome of the company. I've noticed this mostly at smaller companies, and I imagine it could be similar in certain leadership roles.

Re: Workaholism leads to health problems, work addiction risk depends on occupation

#33

Post by hnxs »

markus_zhang wrote: post #6

I believe workaholists do not neccesarily love their job, but hate something else so much that they would rather find some place to take a bit of rest. I think I'm developing into one...

For some, that something else is themselves.

I disagree with this submission title. Workaholism isn’t a cause of mental health problems, it’s a symptom.

Re: Workaholism leads to health problems, work addiction risk depends on occupation

#35

Post by offtop5 »

wincy wrote: post #16

After our second daughter was born with a disability and we didn’t know if she’d make it to her first birthday I threw myself into my new job utterly. I was working 7-7 almost every day, took every opportunity to travel, and in general was absent from the situation as much as my “very important job” would allow. For me I felt completely powerless at the hospital. At work I got to solve “important” problems that were…

While not nearly as serious, I found myself more focused on work after a breakup back in 2019 .

This focus was very good for me though and neeted a 80k pay increase. However , I find myself not particularly wanting to get into a relationship again. Felt like a very painful experience. I'd rather make music instead .

Re: Workaholism leads to health problems, work addiction risk depends on occupation

#36

Post by hehehaha »

Working yourself to death is a real thing. And often times, people are forced into these tracks due to competition and pressure. At some point I came to a conclusion that competition does not bring out the best in people and I refuse to work in a contrived environment where such behaviors are encouraged.

Re: Workaholism leads to health problems, work addiction risk depends on occupation

#37

Post by pbrb »

haram_masala wrote: post #13

I honestly think my mental and physical health are so much better than they should be at my age because I don't take work as seriously as my colleagues. Though, I'm fairly certain I've missed out on a few promotions.

I'm with you this. I still do work very hard and definitely too much, but I made a decision in my mid 20s to never let work stress actually affect me. Or, at least try not to. I think it actually helped me get promoted when working at startups, but now that I'm working at an 'elite' company, I've definitely missed out on promotions. I'm just not willing to work 14 hr days, every day, to hit arbitrary dates on a calendar.

Re: Workaholism leads to health problems, work addiction risk depends on occupation

#38

Post by cryptica »

If you're a workaholic but your job is less than useless to the point that society would be better off if you didn't work, of course that will lead to mental health problems...

That said, the fact that someone would be willing to do overtime to harm society is probably a sign of mental problems to begin with... There is nothing more ridiculous than the idea of harming society though charity work and yet many people are doing it these days.

Re: Workaholism leads to health problems, work addiction risk depends on occupation

#39

Post by ntsplnkv2 »

whalesalad wrote: post #2

I would posit that deeper psychological issues are what lead someone to workaholism (as a maladaptive coping mechanism). I believe it is a symptom of a larger issue which is what ultimately leads to the problems with mental and physical health.

It's always a chicken vs the egg scenario.

While the initial steps into workaholism may be from other issues, eventually it can become the cause of many others.

Re: Workaholism leads to health problems, work addiction risk depends on occupation

#40

Post by aerosmile »

honkycat wrote: post #30

Most of the time I've seen it, it is avoidance of the rest of their life. "Change diapers? Oh, sorry honey, I uhh... gotta do this thing at work. Darn it!" One phenomenon I've always noticed about workaholics is that they THINK they are being more productive, but often times they are just spending more time spinning their wheels. Also the effect it has on their mood/interpersonal skills, and the pressure it puts on t…

I found it interesting that you put a price tag on it. Also, $200k is about $150k more than most people make, but if you look at just the workaholic population and isolate for industries such as finance and law, many people in that group are going to be within the shooting range of that threshold. And there you have it - even within your own framework, it becomes understandable why we have so many workaholics.

My point is - the moment you put a price tag on your work-life balance, it becomes very difficult to escape the rat race. You really have to be quite militant about it or otherwise it won't work.

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