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Alcohol Abuse at Work
Alcohol is
prominent in all regions of the United States.
It doesn’t take much of a search to see alcohol
or alcohol advertisements in the stores, the
marketplace, on billboards, and on the
television. Alcohol is just about everywhere. It
almost seems sometimes that more people drink
alcohol than don’t.
A
common thing among our friends and family
members is to go get a drink at lunch time or
after work. For someone who may be addicted that
is trying to curb their use or stop altogether,
this may be a challenging thing. Sometimes it is
just a matter of a coworker asking “Want to go
get a drink after work?” and before the addicted
one knows it, it’s after one a.m. and the bar is
closing.
Maybe their weekly schedule consists of a drink
after work and then a few more at the house for
a nightcap. They wake up and repeat the whole
cycle again, day after day. Then maybe the day
comes when they drink before work, at lunch time
and after work or at home or they call in sick
so that they may sit at home and drink all day.
To some, this
may be surprising but actually it is more common
than one might think. In fact, many people live
everyday with a drink nearby, whether it is in
their hand or waiting for them in the tavern
around the corner or down the street.
There are many
obvious reasons not to abuse alcohol, but
especially while at work. When drinking at work
and depending on your occupation many things can
happen under the influence of alcohol. You can
become a threat to other people’s physical
welfare, especially when operating machinery, or
drinking and driving to and from work.
In this day and
age, the smell of alcohol on ones breath at work
is cause for termination. Many people who abuse
alcohol at work may find themselves losing one
job after another especially if they have a
drinking problem. No matter how hard they try to
not drink during working hours, the idea of a
beer, whiskey sour or the bottle they brought to
work with them and have hidden in the desk
drawer or glove box may be just too hard to turn
down.
One of the
definitive ways to separate the non-alcoholic
from the alcoholic is to see if the person can
drink one drink at, say, lunchtime and not drink
again for the rest of the day, week or month.
For the alcoholic, a drink at lunchtime is
usually just the beginning of a binge that will
end them up drunk by bedtime. Some alcoholics
may be able to curb their craving for a day,
maybe two or three, but it will usually be short
lived. More than likely they will find
themselves once again drinking during working
hours, threatening their own life and those
around them by their inebriated state of mind.
There are harsh
consequences to alcohol abuse at work. Many
people have killed themselves, or been killed by
people under the influence of alcohol while at
work. The best case scenario for someone who
drinks at work is termination. But this means
they are only biding their time if they continue
to drink while at work. Something worse is bound
to happen. Every time a person drinks at work,
they are taking one step closer to disaster and
no one is able to predict when that disastrous
time may come.
If you or
someone you know is abusing alcohol, at work or
at home, assist them in finding the appropriate
help and call the Manor House today.
By: Patrick McLemore
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