by Robin Landry

Created on: August 29, 2008   Last Updated: March 23, 2009

Sacrifice family in favor of career? Never! Why not? Well, to begin with, what does "sacrifice" really mean and can it actually achieve the desired results when it comes to career success?

According to Dictionary.com, sacrifice is "the surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable for the sake of something considered as having a higher or more pressing claim."

Somehow I can't imagine ever having a career that I would value so highly that I would be willing to "surrender", much less "destroy" my family in order to pursue it. Sadly, however, there seem to be too many individuals in our society today who do not share this view.

Addiction to work is not yet officially recognized as a medical or mental disorder, which makes it difficult to accurately measure. However, a 2004 Gallup survey indicated that 38% of Americans reported that they work more than 45 hours every week, compared with only 30% of Canadians and 28% of employees in Great Britain working more than 45 hours weekly. In Japan it is widely reported that 10,000 workers die at their desks every year as a result of the 60 to 70 hour work weeks that are commonplace.

So, what could be behind this dramatic imbalance in many of our lives? What leads the self-described workaholic into such an imperfect situation? Many people assume that only the highest level executives such as CEOs or those in the process of climbing their way up the corporate ladder are likely candidates for work addiction. However, according to the 12-step support group, Workaholics Anonymous, it appears that a growing number of individuals from blue collar, white collar, professional and service oriented occupations alike are seeking help in overcoming their unhealthy obsession with work.

Though some people may simply be hard working, motivated and ambitious, the true workaholic is like any other addict, driven to engage in compulsive, yet harmful behavior and unable to exert the self-control that will enable him to stop. Work becomes the way in which the addict self medicates in order to cope with stressful life situations in much the same way as people who overeat, smoke, drink excessively, abuse either illegal or prescription drugs or view pornography do in their efforts to escape. Some studies suggest that workaholics are addicted to the adrenaline rush that is present in a busy and demanding workplace and may actually seek out high stress jobs in an effort to maintain that "adrenaline high."

Unfortunately, however, long term

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