Mnay of us grew up in families and societies where the Protestant work ethos was very strong. Leisure is idleness, work is a good thing but workaholism is the best ! If work for you is the driving force in your life and you have no time or interest in anything else, then you are probably a woraholic! But this addiction is not easily cured and I think it is rather like a terminal illness.

We hear a lot about the 'work-life balance'. I had another boss who had a different approach and he encouraged staff NOT to stay on working for such long hours. He was also able to demonstrate by his own example that he could and did find time to nurture his human relationships. In other words, he had a life and loved ones outside the workplace.

It is a sad fact of life that the society we live in rewards workaholism with promotion and other carrots. But the damage caused by workaholism in the workplace cannot be understimated. The stress caused by this disease spreads to colleagues and is extremely infectious. For example, how many companies have a workplace stress policy ? Not many, I guess. Productivity suffers because the tierder the workers become, the less they produce.

Faster promotion and high salaries are the carrots held out to the workaholic who needs to keep his adrenaline rush going and this is part of the addiction. Workaholics were surveyed recently and 38% claimed they were on $100,000 plus annually. Only 22% of people on lower salaries claimed they were stressed out or workaholics. The workaholic though has problems with his colleagues and is usually very poor at delegating work.

These workaholics suffer from stress and how ! They suffer from a variety of stress disorders , including anxiety attacks, ulcers, and burnout, as well as depression that can lead to suicide. Workaholics, in fact, can become physically dependent on the adrenaline coursing through their bodies .They are usually taken out by a heart attack or stroke, or collapse with a really catastrophic illness.

The fall out on workaholics' families is considerable. Those who are married to workaholics have higher divorce rates, greater rates of marital estrangement, fewer positive feelings about their marriage and feel less in control of their lives. Of course, the families of workaholics may gain by sharing in their consequently higher incomes but I begin to wonder if this is really a blessing.

Does all this sound familiar to you ? Maybe your stress is caused by workaholism or maybe you are being stressed out by a workaholic boss. It really is time to take this in hand before it takes you out and members of your family will take the brunt as well.