With the average working hours per week around 40, your job plays a significant role in your life.
Whether your job is physically demanding, or more mentally and emotionally stressful, all jobs can have an impact on your mental health and overall well-being.
The workplace can grow into your private life, with evening shifts or overtime, causing people to struggle with the physical or mental stress of the work.
This can result in an increased likelihood of a substance use disorder or high rates of alcohol abuse.
An addiction or substance use disorder can cause detrimental effects to your health and can even lead to you losing your job.
Some industries have higher rates of drug abuse or alcohol addiction than other professions. If you are in recovery, it might be worth considering avoiding certain professions, in case they are more likely to cause you to relapse.
Here are some of the professions and industries that have high rates of addiction and substance misuse.
The hospitality industry has long been known as a breeding ground for substance abuse. Food service workers or people who work in restaurants or catering generally tend to have higher rates of alcohol addiction and substance misuse. [1]
The food service industry faces a lot of physical exhaustion and has to constantly work during irregular hours with the high stress of fulfilling customer needs. This can promote alcohol use or smoking.
Alcohol is also readily available, especially if you work behind a bar or for large events. It is also normal for work colleagues to get a drink after work to unwind from the day’s pressure.
When you are serving alcohol for a large part of the day, this can also encourage you to want a drink. Among the most affected are bartenders. [2]
Workers in the hospitality industry will often sneak a drink or two or even more during their shift to aid in coping with the long antisocial hours, physical strain and difficult customers.
This can end up resulting in heavy alcohol use over time and binge drinking as their tolerance builds up.
Doctors, nurses, health care professionals or healthcare workers have, arguably, some of the most physically and mentally exhausting, high-stress jobs in the world.
They are sometimes regularly responsible for whether someone survives or not, and this can take its toll on the mental health and fatigue of a healthcare professional.
According to some global statistics, around an estimated 14% have a substance use disorder and they are generally more likely to commit prescription drug abuse than their patients are according to the National Library for Medicine. [3]
A factor of this is their access to prescription drugs. Daily, they have access to prescription medication and prescription painkillers that can result in an addiction such as opioid abuse.
Ranking as one of the 10 most stressful jobs globally, the art and entertainment industry is not all fun.
The creative industry has long been associated with illegal drug use, excessive drinking and generally reckless behaviour.
The issue with being popular and right in the spotlight is that you are under an excessive amount of public scrutiny. This can take its toll, and many resort to drugs or alcohol. [4]
Lawyers and legal practitioners also have some of the highest reports of alcohol and substance misuse relative. They are ranked in the top 5 most stressful jobs across the globe.
Law school is generally where alcohol abuse begins due to alcohol-focused meet-ups, excessively large workloads, competition with other lawyers, long study hours, and a great amount of stress.
Once they join the lifestyle of work, these issues that started at university only become even more. Without knowing how to deal with day-to-day stresses, often those will turn to alcohol or drugs to cope in the workplace.
The building industry is prone to health risks and this can increase dependence on painkillers if construction workers are injured but need to get back to work fast.
Opioid use is a problem and this could be a result of having to deal with more injuries and pain than a lot of other professions.
Additionally, construction workers who generally misuse drugs or alcohol in the building industry can pose a significant health and safety risk to themselves and others.
In 2017, Active HSE considered construction to be the second most dangerous job in the UK. [5]
The influence that alcohol has on concentration could potentially cause severe injuries to others in the workplace within construction.
Police officers are another group that have to deal with daily high-stress work conditions.
Police officers and other law members of law enforcement have to deal with emergencies, sometimes life and death, regularly so they often turn to alcohol or drugs in order to unwind.
This can lead to alcohol abuse issues or drug addiction.
Alcohol is a common finding of military culture and has long been linked to ideas of masculinity.
The abuse of alcohol and addiction to alcohol that members of the military are at risk of is extremely high.
Often, drinking is associated with being a coping strategy for mental health disorders or mental health issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder in the military, and soldiers often go for drinks after work in order to relieve stress.
Overall, being in the military makes the most alcoholics out of all the careers. [6]
As substance abuse disorders and alcohol use disorders usually decrease productivity in the workplace, many organisations offer a member of the team who can help with any difficulties someone is going through.
This is generally known as the Human Resources (HR) department.
However, more often than not, it is up to the employee themselves to ask for help and seek either rehab or therapy for their heavy drinking or use of illicit drugs.
If you are a part-time or full-time worker who requires further advice about your substance abuse issues, get in touch with Rehab 4 Addiction today at 0800 140 4690.
We can assist you in finding treatment options and addiction recovery for your drug use disorder or substance use issues.
[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2829730/
[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3823323/
[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2265282/
[4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5814514/
[5] https://www.activehse.co.uk/2017/07/21/most-dangerous-jobs-in-the-uk/
[6] https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/report_2111/Spotlight-2111.html
Boris is our editor-in-chief at Rehab 4 Addiction. Boris is an addiction expert with more than 20 years in the field. His expertise covers a broad of topics relating to addiction, rehab and recovery. Boris is an addiction therapist and assists in the alcohol detox and rehab process. Boris has been featured on a variety of websites, including the BBC, Verywell Mind and Healthline. You can connect with Boris online at LinkedIn or X.com.
