When it comes to being active and busy, our culture does a great job of that. From sun up to sundown, people are busy running, going places, working, and spending their days going every which direction. Some people actually cut hobbies and everything else out of their schedule to work harder and harder until that seems to be all they do. Technology is partly to blame for this, in that, they are on their phones, computers, and accessible at all hours of the day and night. Professionals who are in recovery can struggle with workaholism to cover up for the challenges they face not doing drugs or drinking. They may also have struggled with it before as a reason they sought treatment, along with other addictions. Find out why workaholism can harm recovery and how it gets in the way of healing.
Disconnection and Workaholism
A huge reason why people become addicted to work is they are disconnected. They do not realize how many hours they work or what they are doing. Busyness has become something to be proud of. No longer just about ‘oh, I have so much going on,’ it has actually become a right of passage for people to tout how they work longer, harder, and faster than their peers. There is shame associated with not keeping up with everyone else, but there is also shame associated in letting go of the ideal life that people think they’re entitled to (or others expect) and this disconnection leads to addiction or difficulties in recovery.
Release the Lie
Workaholism can very much get in the way of recovery from addiction, but only if people let it. There is no correlation between professional performance and working longer hours. However, it can, and does, drive some unhealthy patterns, including:
- Compulsions
- Guilt
- Addictive thoughts and triggers or cravings
- Negative emotions
- Feelings of overwhelm
- Greater work-life conflict
- Decreased physical and emotional health
- Job burnout
Professionals who struggle with workaholism are often driven towards compulsions in other areas. If this is not addressed, they may go to rehab thinking they have a drinking problem but find they are still working like maniacs long after rehab ends, even if they stopped drinking. While it is hard to combat all the issues at once, it is necessary to figure out how to work on the different challenges a person’s faces and see how they can work them out to their benefit. They can ultimately find healing from addictive behaviors if they are willing to face them head-on, get the right support and accept this as part of their journey in.
A Step in the Right Direction provides quality sober living for clients seeking support for addiction recovery. We teach people how to live a sober life through community building, accountability, and healthy living. Our sober living program is staffed by people who understand the power of addiction. For more information about sober living programs for men and women as well as recovery programs, call (818) 921-7132.
