Reflections on Work Addiction as a Symptom of Contemporary Social Unrest

At present and based on the studies and scientific literature consulted we can say that the addiction to work is part of this set of new addictions. That in psychological terms is a psychological addiction of the cognitive-behavioral order. In other words behavioral/emotional, which unlike chemical addiction to a drug, the addiction to work does not have a “substance”. For this reason, when we talk about addiction from clinically/social perspective, the outlook is very broad and we delimit according to the types of addiction that have been proposed so far by the investigators of this phenomenon. In a nutshell, addiction to work is more of a compulsive behavior than a mental illness. The concept of workaholism may also be associated with a priori behaviors or behavior that are healthy and not dangerous. These behaviors can become addictive, depending on the intensity, frequency or amount of time and money that the person invests in carrying them out and seriously interfere with the functioning of the subject. We refer, for example, to repetitive and excessive behaviors such as: internet use, sex, work, shopping, food, gambling, among others.