5 Professions That Can Lead to Substance Abuse
Most people in the United States are sitting a desk for eight hours, unable to get their hands on drugs and alcohol. But, some professions enable people to use drugs and drink alcohol at any time of day, or on the job. These professions can lead to increased levels of addiction. If you or someone you know is addicted to drugs or alcohol, please call United Drug Rehab for a consultation at the right drug rehab center for your particular situation.
Bartenders
It is no surprise that bartenders have exclusive access to alcohol before, during, and after their shifts. It also bears mentioning that have easy access to all things party culture. Cocaine and ecstasy are easier to obtain when you work at bar, a place people typically drink and use drugs. The US National Library of Medicine took a survey in Denmark that showed that 71 percent of bartenders reported drinking on the job, while 33 percent said that they often feel pressured to drink by the work environment, which isn’t a culture conducive to substance abuse treatment centers.
Writers
From Ernest Hemingway to Raymond Chandler to Edgar Allen Poe, it is no secret that writers like to drink. Not only is it known that drinking on the job allows the words to flow freely, writers often spend long periods alone working, allowing them full reign on drinking and drug use. Infamous writing drug users include Hunter S. Thompson, WIlliam Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, and countless others. An interview with David Linden of John Hopkins University told Scientific American that 40 percent of addiction relies on genetics, which share genes with that produce creativity. The unhappiness of brilliant writers may have led them to pick up a bottle, some pills, or even a syringe.
Lawyers
According to the National Bar Association, one in five lawyers has a problem with alcohol, which is more than twice the national rate of alcoholics. It is unknown why this number is so outrageously high, but the high stress and gruelingly long work weeks may have something to do with it. Intervention Strategies states on their website that around 20 percent of lawyers use drugs while the only 10 percent of the general population partakes. Not only do lawyers have the money to keep up their habits, they use the excuse that they don’t have enough time for a drug rehab facility.
4) Airplane Pilots
The New England Journal of Medicine reports that 700,000 pilots depend on alcohol in their daily lives. It even affects their work, flying you to your vacation in Tahiti, or your business trip Shanghai. Though aircraft incidents are astronomically low, the Journal of Medicine states that “a substantial portion of such accidents have been related to the consumption of alcoholic beverages before or during flight.”
5) Physical Laborers
Working underground in a mine is notoriously difficult. Substance abuse undoubtedly plays a role in this, as miners meet up at the bar after their shift. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health showed that 17.5 percent of miners report heavy alcohol use, more than any other surveyed profession. Following closely behind are construction workers.
Stress, accessibility, and solitude all contribute to the demographics that are more likely to use drugs or drink. This inevitably leads to increased addiction. If you or someone you know is addicted to a substance, please call United Drug Rehab today to set up a consultation at an addiction recovery facility.
