What Being Driven to Work Does to Stress and Wellbeing

This Danish study surveyed 671 adults using a validated work-addiction scale alongside standard measures of stress and quality of life. Those who scored as high risk for work addiction reported markedly higher perceived stress and meaningfully lower quality of life than those at low risk, worked several more hours a week on average, and were more likely to hold leadership responsibility. Around one in fifteen people screened as high risk, a reminder that this is not a rare quirk but a real pattern among driven professionals. As a cross-sectional survey it captures a single point in time and relies on self-report, so it shows a strong association between the compulsion and the toll it takes, not a controlled proof of cause. For a woman who prides herself on capacity, it offers a sobering, evidence-based mirror: the relentless drive that looks like strength from the outside often correlates with measurably worse stress and wellbeing on the inside.