Substance Abuse

Substance Abuse Paper

Although, we would all love to believe that substance abuse never happens in the work place; unfortunately we are wrong. This type of abuse happens every day in many different places of business. Alcohol abuse can cause many problems in the place of business. The problems that can occur could be a wide range of things. The good news is there is help from employee assistance programs to help the employee through their addiction.

There are some psychological factors in why a person may start to drink or abuse alcohol. "According to the Mayo Clinic, certain psychological factors may contribute to the development of alcoholism. These factors include: high stress and/or anxiety levels, emotional pain, low self-esteem and depression" (DiPlacido, 2010). When people start to drink for these types of reasons it is known as "self-medication". When a person has any of these psychological traits it is highly likely they will become an alcoholic, but it also does not mean they will definitely be an alcoholic.

When this type of abuse is brought into the work place there are effects that come along with it. Some effects that may happen with alcohol abuse are absenteeism, missing deadlines, sloppy or incomplete work, and relationships at work become strained. When any of these signs are noticed by the manager of the work place it is there job to evaluate the situation. At the same time, these signs do not always mean the person is an alcoholic.

Showing any of the above signs the manager of the work place can give you a referral for employee assistance programs. "Employee Assistance Programs deal with all kinds of problems and provide short-term counseling, assessment, and referral of employees with alcohol and drug abuse problems, emotional and mental health problems, marital and family problems, financial problems, dependent care concerns, and other personal problems that can affect the employee's work" (OPM.gov, 2011). These programs are all staffed by trained professionals and it is all completely confidential. There are instances that an employee will contact the employee assistance program on their own before the manager refers them. This program is to help the employee get through their addiction or place them in the right institute if in-house rehabilitation is required.

The relationship between mental health and alcohol abuse is that they are both very serious diseases and one does not help the other. When someone has both alcoholism and a mental health problem it makes it a lot harder to fix, but it can be fixed. Genetics can play a part in having both disorders. "Genetic factors seem to combine with psychosocial processes, especially conditioning, in the development of drinking problems" (Sarafino & Smith, 2011). As long as the employee is open with the counselor who is helping them they will