Chained to the Desk: A Guidebook for Workaholics, Their Partners and Children, and the Clinicians Who Treat Them

Abstract

Americans love a hard worker. The man or woman who works eighteen-hour days and eats his or her meals on run between appointments is usually viewed with a combination of respect and awe. But for many, this lifestyle leads to family problems, a decline in work productivity, and ultimately to physical and mental collapse. Chained to Desk, best-selling author and widely respected family therapist Bryan E. Robinson's groundbreaking book, originally published in 1998, was first comprehensive portrait of workaholic. Thousands benefited from this innovative book, which profiles myths behind this greatly misunderstood disorder and inner psychological battle that work addicts wage against themselves. Intended for anyone touched by what Robinson calls the best-dressed problem of twenty-first century, author also provides an inside look into impact on those who live and work with workaholics - partners, spouses, children, and colleagues - as well as appropriate techniques for clinicians who treat them. In this new and updated edition, Robinson portrays many different kinds of workaholism, drawing on hundreds of case reports from his own original research and years of clinical practice. From California to Carolinas, men and women tell of their agonizing bouts with workaholism and devastations left in its wake, struggles made all more challenging in a world where computer, cell phone, and Blackberry allow twenty-four-hour access to office, even on weekends and from vacation spots. Adult children of workaholics describe their childhood pain and lifelong legacies they still carry, and spouses or partners of workaholics reveal isolation and loneliness of their vacant relationships. Employers and business colleagues discuss cost to company when workaholism dominates workplace. Chained to Desk both counsels and consoles. It provides a step-by-step guide to help readers spot workaholism, understand it, and recover. Robinson presents strategies for workaholics and their loved ones on how to cope, and for people in workplace on how to distinguish between work efficiency and workaholism.

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