PEOPLE IN PRINT
April 1, 1992
Overcoming the Doing Addictions
Working Ourselves to Death: The High Cost of Workaholism and the Rewards of Recovery by Diane Fassel HarperCollins, $14.95 Reviewed by Greg Asimakoupoulos, pastor, Crossroads Covenant Church, Concord, California Once upon a time there was a pastor known in his community as a conscientious caregiver. His twelve-plus years in the pastorate could best be described as goal-guided ministry in motion. Although he was a human being loved by God unconditionally, you'd never know it by observing him. He was a human doing. Constantly. What he did was good. But the reasons behind his efforts reeked of an addiction to accomplishment. His name was Workaholic, and he wore himself out. If you identify with this pastor, you'll find Diane Fassel's Working Ourselves to Death intriguing reading. It is one of only a few volumes written in the past decade that attempts to make sense of a national epidemic known as work addiction. According to Fassel, a management consultant based in Boulder, Colorado, you need not look far to find this disease. Whether in American corporations or churches, addiction to work is as common as any chemical addiction. One author has called workaholism "the pain others applaud," another "the only life boat guaranteed to sink." Diane Fassel calls it "a progressive disease in which a person is addicted to the process of working wherein they seek work because it is their fix." Simply said, it is an addiction to action. The author understands her subject well. By her own admission, she is prone to workaholism. I tracked her down in Hawaii, where she says she retreats regularly to escape her tendency to "work herself to death." More than a catchy title for her book, the phrase is a red flag she refuses ...
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