You’ve worked hard to build a reputation in your chosen field. Perhaps you’ve finally reached a point in your career where you are earning a substantial salary and have nearly reached the heights of your professional goals while continuing to want the very best for your family.
Addiction, Work and Stress
Although your job is a very important part of your life, sometimes the stress associated with performance at work can put you at risk for developing an addiction to drugs or alcohol. Occupational stress is a known predictor for addiction and addiction relapse risk. Work-related stress can easily lead to alcohol abuse in those who are vulnerable to increased stressors on the job. If you’re caught in this cycle, you aren’t alone.
Nearly 11 million people with full-time jobs have a substance use disorder. Employers are realizing that not all people with addiction disorders are homeless or unemployed. Employers are recognizing that some of their employees may be experiencing substance-related problems, motivating them to develop workplace solutions to address substance use and abuse.
Addiction and Your Career
If you are struggling with substance abuse, you are likely finding that you are not performing as well at work as you have in the past. Perhaps you’ve been reprimanded for missing deadlines or taking too many sick days. Over time, substance abuse will fragment your career goals, some of which may significantly damage your career and ultimately cost you your job.
When you are in the midst of a substance use disorder, your work performance and relationships can begin to suffer. Some of the symptoms associated with addiction include:
- Missing important deadlines, inconsistent quality of work
- Higher rate of absenteeism
- Poor concentration
- Errors in judgment
- Taking unnecessary risks
- Long lunch periods, leaving work early
- Financial problems
- Blaming co-workers for errors you’ve made
How Addiction Treatment Could Boost Your Career
If you want to save your career before the symptoms of addiction whittle away at your relationships and job productivity, opting for professional therapy can make all the difference. A discreet addiction treatment center like Silver Ridge in Mills River, North Carolina, can offer midlife developmental themes of purpose and reflection that address the mind, body, and spirit.
Getting inpatient treatment at a specialized facility like Silver Ridge takes you away from the temptations of substance use and gives you time away from work so you can focus solely on recovery. Once you have spent time completing the Silver Ridge program, you can return to your career with renewed vigor and have the necessary skills for coping with occupational stress and avoiding relapse.
As a midlife adult, you will thrive with specialized program features that delve into your life experiences with a strength-based perspective. Holistic approaches help enhance your connections to others in a way that will benefit your career once you return to work.
Sharpened organizational skills, improved concentration, and dedication to sobriety will all benefit your professional performance. Your recovery tools will also help keep work-related stress at bay and prevent a relapse in addition to enhancing your work-related and family relationships.
References:
