313: Solocast – Work is My Drug (The Work Addiction Series – Part II)
I’m digging deep into this! I wanted to check more into the actual literature on work addiction but somewhat surprisingly, there isn’t much there. What I did find is both shocking and kind of expected. Listen as I bust three myths about work addiction.
The first myth is that there are only psychological consequences to work addiction. In fact, the literature is quite clear that prolonged, chronic stress leads to physical manifestations and work addiction has been placed in this category. Your body does indeed physically manifest its distress.
There is also this pervasive thought that work addiction is a good thing in some ways, but that simply isn’t true. Any addiction is a negative influence in our lives. Even if you’re addicted to eating salads every day and all you eat is salad while ignoring all the other necessary vitamins and minerals needed to sustain life, that healthy act will become unhealthy.
Additionally, for those of us afflicted with work addiction, it doesn’t matter how much time you spend working. There are people who are not addicted to their work, who work astronomical numbers of hours, and when they’re not working can simply turn it off.
I’m not one of those people. No matter if I work 1 hour or 20 hours, I feel the same drain or high (depending on the day) regardless. Because it’s a drug and the actual time taking it doesn’t change the effect.
Also, you may not only be hurting yourself. One of the key problems with work addiction is how our drug affects our children. Don’t believe me? Listen in to learn more.
“We can’t change the past at this point. We can’t take back time with our kids. God, I wish I could.” Dr. Errin Weisman
In this episode:
[02:54] Listen as I break down some things I found from my jump into PubMed.
[04:33] Myth #1 is that there are only psychological consequences of being addicted to your work.
[05:05] I share the physical consequences of work addiction.
[06:47] I don’t remember the first year of my first child’s life and it breaks my heart.
[07:17] Myth #2 work addiction is a positive thing.
[11:04] Myth #3 work addiction is a function of time engaging in work.
[12:27] Healthy things in life can also become addictions.
[13:35] It’s not the hours in the day you work if you have a work addiction, it’s the impact of those hours.
[14:44] Your tangible takeaway is that you are different, and advocate for yourself because it comes down to an individual basis.
[16:02] Thank you for listening!
Links and Resources
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