In the age of the BlackBerry, laptop and cell phone, distinguishing between workaholics and people just doing what's expected in their jobs can be difficult.

"It's the best dressed addiction, because most workaholics confuse symptoms with hard work," says Bryan Robinson, author of "Chained to the Desk: A Guidebook for Workaholics, Their Partners and Children, and the Clinicians Who Treat Them" (NYU Press, 2001)

A workaholic is addicted to working, devoting excessive hours to a job and sometimes becoming anxious when unable to do so, says Dr. Robinson, a psychotherapist in Asheville, N.C., who treats workaholics and other addicts.

When devotion to work becomes unhealthy side effects may include fatigue, sleep disorders, and stress-related ailments, such as heart attack and stroke, says Diane Fassel, author of "Working Ourselves to Death: The High Costs of Workaholism and the Rewards of Recovery" (Harper Collins, 1990), and president of Newmeasures, a survey research firm in Boulder, Colo. Relationships with family or friends also may suffer from neglect, she says.

Think you or someone you know may be a workaholic? Below are five common traits workaholics exhibit. If you have all five, chances are good you may be a workaholic, says Dr. Robinson. But some workaholics may have just a few to a great degree.

1. Preoccupation with work.

Workaholics typically have difficulty leaving the office while home or in social situations and are unable to "turn work off," says Dr. Robinson, who says he is a recovered workaholic. Working from home after the end of the typical business day is common, as is checking a BlackBerry throughout the night and weekend, he says. When they are home, a preoccupation with thoughts about their jobs may prevent them from being "psychologically present," says Dr. Robinson.

"I can be in synagogue supposedly praying and repenting on holidays, and I'm thinking about work," says Irv Flax, 63, a director of Gorfine, Schiller & Gardyn PA, a regional accounting and business-consulting firm in Baltimore who says he's a workaholic.

Some workaholics work such long hours that they aren't able to see family or socialize. In a previous position as a principal of an elementary school, Gina Gardiner, 53, says she worked 75 to 90 hours a week. "I got a great buzz out of my work," says Ms. Gardiner, of Hornchurch, England, founder of Recovering Workaholics, a group that offers assistance to workaholics. However, she says her dedication to work prevented her from meeting people and sustaining romantic relationships.

Because workaholics often dwell on work, they may find it dominating their conversations in social settings, says Alan Langlieb, chairman of the American Psychiatric Association Committee on Business Relations and director of Workplace Psychiatry at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.

Mr. Flax says he talks about taxes, business and financing at social events. His wife Nannette says she sometimes wonders whether other people are interested or are just being polite.