Stressful Jobs that can Lead to Drink and Drugs
Is your career stressing you out? Do you sometimes feel that need for a little extra support to help you make it through the daily grind? Have you found yourself turning more and more to binge drinking? Or even recreational drug use? It is no secret that having a job can be stressful in general, but some careers are even more stressful than others. According to recent studies people who have jobs that are deemed demanding and tedious tend to do drugs and drink more often than those who don’t.
Having a job is necessary in order to live the life you want for yourself and your loved ones. They are essential in allowing you to buy the things you need and fund the life you live. The reality of todays world is that any job that is high stress, deadline driven, or extremely mentally challenging can easily be categorized as what is known as a high risk job for substance abuse.
Construction is an example of such career. This is a strenuous job that requires a lot out of you mentally and can also be physically taxing on your body. It is not uncommon to find many construction workers hitting the bar for a “cool down” after a long days work.
Similarly, people working in hotels and restaurants also engage in demanding occupations, which call for long hours at a time. Hotels and restaurant are also famous for drilling the phrase “customers are always right” into their employees minds. This creates a stressful environment where workers are forced to acquiesce to the whims of difficult customers all day. Adhering to a strict ethic such as this often results in employees turning to drugs and alcohol as a de-stress tactic.
These are just some of many jobs that, because of the stressful environment and demand on a person to be fully invested in their work, result in employees turning to alcohol and drugs to escape. However, what about a job that has a two-month vacation every year?
Being a school teacher often means that when the kids you care for go on vacation, so do you. Many people would argue that having a career with such an incredible perk could never be a job that would have employees resorting to drinking and drug use. The truth of the matter is actually quite different. Studies have shown that the demands of school teachers are extremely high. The pressure of this job often leads teachers to excessive drug taking and drinking during their prolonged “down time”. While one may think that the extended vacation times for teachers might be the break they need from the pressure of their jobs, the reality is the opposite. In contrast to the high responsibility and stressfulness of their job, all the extra time that vacation provides results in boredom. With this boredom a lack of purpose sets in and a tendency toward unhealthy experimentation begins. For two whole months teachers are alone with their thoughts. The daily routine of getting up early, grading papers, and preparing the following days classes is no more. With so much extra time on their hands there is no wonder that teachers are prone to drug and alcohol addiction.
If you are a teacher, a construction worker, a waitress, or are working a job that has you turning to drugs and alcohol, do not allow stress to overcome you. Even if you love your job, some jobs are just too much for most to handle and can easily drive you towards substance abuse. The key is to seek help before it is too late.