Comment by jajko
4 days ago
Workaholism is always just manifesting underlying psychical issues, be it some form of OCD, deep unhappiness with one's life and escapism from emptiness or similar. Such state manifests in many destructive behaviors, which then like in case of sleep create their own forces of destruction.
One can't escape psychology, one thing no school taught me (and they should have since we all deal with this in some way! plus its not that complex). Once I grokked the basics, dealing and with people and understanding them became much easier.
Maybe some people just enjoy working.
An addiction is when our dependency an activity outweighs the net-negative effect of it.
If there’s no net-negative, there’s no addiction.
So yes, some people just enjoy working. Others are workaholics. It’s not all-or-nothing and the evaluation depends on how you calculate the net impact of work on the person’s life.
What OP was calling out is that chronically sacrificing sleep seems to consistently take its toll down the road. So chronically enjoying work at the expense of sleep can be a form of workaholism.
Being addicted to workahol means they aren't able to enjoy other things. Your comment is like saying "maybe alcoholics just enjoy drinking".
I love working and I love doing other things too. Working doesn't get in the way of doing other things I also love.
Maybe alcoholics do enjoy drinking. But working 60 hours a week isn't going to cause brain damage and liver failure on its own. Productivity isn't a chemical or vice.
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I'd be careful with saying that is "always" the case.
What about people who are deeply passionate about their mission and chose to devote their life to it?
Not ‘real’ workaholics imo - you can drink a lot of alcohol regularly without being an alcoholic. You can work a lot regularly without being a workaholic.
Addiction is pathological, it has to do with self control, often a degree of chemical dependence / reliance, and how one prioritizes things in one’s life.
If you work all the time, but are otherwise generally happy and healthy, passionate and devoted to your mission - that’s not workaholic. That’s just living your best life.
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