Caroline, a lawyer, used to work 16-hour days. 'I'd get up at 6am and be in the office for 7am. I rarely left before 9pm, but would then do more work when I got home. This was my routine six, often seven, days a week - work, eat, sleep.

'That was it. I made no time for anything else. Family, friends and relaxing were less important than climbing the corporate ladder.'

Despite her unfailing commitment to her job, Caroline became a victim of the recession and lost her job last year. Without work, she says she felt like a 'drug addict going through cold turkey'.

The only thing that kept the fear and anxiety at bay was exercise. I began exercising like a demon. I'd run for up to two hours in the morning, then go to the gym, then for a swim or another run.'

It was only when she broke her ankle and was forced to rest that she had the time to reflect on what had happened.

'For a while, I lost interest in almost everything. I struggled even to get out of bed,' she says.

'I realised I had an obsessive personality and had substituted one obsession for another. I also realised that I was a nervous, anxious wreck without these emotional crutches.'

When we think of obsessions, we tend to think of the negative aspects of extreme behaviour such as Caroline's. It has even been said that every obsession is, at its core, a coping strategy for fending off anxiety.

However, some psychologists have argued that 'productive obsessing', or immersing yourself wholeheartedly in a project, can be not only an antidote to boredom and passivity, but also the recipe to a successful and meaningful life.

'Obsessions with people, or irrational beliefs such as those held by obsessive compulsive sufferers, can be unhealthy or even dangerous,' says Dr Eric Maisel, author of The Van Gogh Blues and leading creativity coach in the U.S., who has written about the topic in a recent edition of Psychology Today.

'However, we firmly believe that doing things by half - merely dabbling in a hobby or professional endeavour - produces sad human beings.

'It's dangerous to feel as though you aren't making a meaningful contribution. We don't want you to look at yourself in the mirror and see a person who might have done this, but didn't; or who loves that but, for some reason, takes no active interest in it.

'To lead a life that makes you proud, you need to get obsessed.'

Though there will be inevitable fatigue, frustration and dips in motivation, he believes people are more able to deal with those side-effects when they are immersed in something stimulating and important.

In contrast, those without a passion can end up letting everyday challenges and difficulties get on top of them.

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