Wayne E. Oates had been an addict for nearly 30 years when he managed to kick his habit in 1966. Oates, a professor of the psychology of religion at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., had been hooked not by drugs or alcohol but by what he calls "workaholism—the uncontrollable need to work incessantly." Now, convinced that his old sickness is a common and crippling affliction, he has recounted his experiences for the benefit of other sufferers in a newly published book, Confessions of a Workaholic (World; $5.95).
The workaholic "drops out of the human community," Oates says, and "eats, drinks...