Is Your Job Driving Your Addiction? – Levels of addiction are at an astronomical rate at present, with more and more people turning to the likes of alcohol and drugs to cope with the increasing cost-of-living crisis, as well as the stresses of work.
Work-related stress has long been a reason many people pick up a bottle of wine on the way home, but one bottle a week can quickly turn into two, three, and then every night.
Thousands of people have suffered, ending up in drug detox clinics to try and get their lives back on track as a result of addiction through work. But how do you know if your job is driving you to addiction?
You are drinking heavily after work
Drinking heavily after work is naturally one of the clearest signs you need that the workplace could be leading you down a pathway of addiction. This isn’t abnormal and a lot of people do suffer from this.
However, it isn’t healthy and if you’re relying on alcohol at the end of the day to get you through work, then it perhaps isn’t the right environment for you to be working in.
You’re anxious about work
Anxiety is one of the major trigger points for addiction, and if it’s work that is making you anxious and leading to high levels of anxiety, which is, in turn, leading to you drinking, then works is an undoubted factor in pushing you towards addiction.
Many workplaces now will have programmes and things in place to help people suffering with their mental health at work, so if you feel yours is suffering it is important to reach out and get help.
There’s a drinking or drug culture you’re pressured into
It may not be the stresses of the work itself that is leading you down a pathway of addiction, it could be the environment and culture of the place. A lot of industries have a heavy drinking and drug culture, and it can be easy to fall into that or be pressured into it.
You should never be pushed into something you don’t want to do, and if you find that colleagues are putting pressure on you to take drugs, then it should be reported.
Some working environments just aren’t right for us and identifying that and moving on can be hugely beneficial for our health, both mentally and physically.
Poppy Watt