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As BlackBerries and global business mean more and more of us work 'out of hours', addiction to work is becoming more common. But until now, being a 'workaholic' has been a matter of opinion - much in the same way as Dylan Thomas quipped, 'An alcoholic is someone you don't like who drinks as much as you do.' Now, Norwegian scientists have designed a 'scale' to separate out keen workers from those who have a behavioural problem that drives them to harm themselves by overwork. The ‘Bergen Work Addiction Scale’ looks at the kind of behaviour that is displayed by all kinds of addicts, from drug users to alcoholics, but related to the workplace. Those who, for instance, free up time to fit in extra work or feel guilty if they don’t stay late on a regular basis may be workaholics. Reporting to the Journal of Psychology, researcher Doctor Cecilie Schou Andreassen of the Univesity of Bergen, said the Scale was the first of its kind in the world. It was tested on 12,000 workers from 25 different kinds of industry, and reflects what she called the ‘seven core elements of addiction.’ These are salience - noticeability - mood, tolerance, withdrawal, conflict, relapse and problems. The Scale was designed jointly by psychologists from Norway’s University of Bergen with colleagues from Nottingham Trent University. The Bergen scientists believe work addiction is getting worse, not better, because the boundaries between home and office are getting blurred. | 
