Excessive working may up anxiety, depression risk

The findings showed that workaholics are at greater risk of anxiety, depression and disorders such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)-a chronic condition including attention difficulty, hyperactivity and impulsiveness, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)-excessive thoughts that lead to repetitive behaviours.

"Workaholics scored higher on all the psychiatric symptoms than non-workaholics," said Cecilie Schou Andreassen, researcher and clinical psychologist specialist at the University of Bergen (UiB) in Norway.

Among the study participants, 32.7 percent workaholics met criteria for ADHD in contrast to 12.7 percent non-workaholics.

While 25.6 percent workaholics fulfilled the criteria for OCD, only 8.7 percent among non-workaholics were found at risk.

Anxiety was seen in 33.8 percent workaholics and 11.9 percent in non-workaholics.

8.9 percent people met criteria for depression among workaholics and only 2.6 per cent among non-workaholics.

"Whether this reflects overlapping genetic vulnerabilities, disorders leading to workaholism or, conversely, workaholism causing such disorders, remain uncertain," Andreassen explained

For the study, published in the journal PLOS One, the team examined the associations between workaholism and psychiatric disorders among 16,426 working adults.

The results clearly highlight the importance of further investigating neurobiological deviations related to workaholic behaviour, the researchers concluded.