Workers Who Intellectualise Drug Abuse

The search is endless for explanations as to why people decide to use drugs they know are addictive and so can harm them physically and mentally. It is especially difficult to understand how health care professionals can become addicted, since they know the dangers of drug use and the likelihood of addiction. Or do they? Clinton B. McCracken created the term “Intellectualization of Drug Abuse” in an effort to describe how people who know better still get caught in the trap of addiction.¹ Much can be learned from his analysis of the reasons intelligent, educated and high achieving people use legal and illicit drugs with the belief they are somehow immune to addiction. Sometimes, it seems, we simply think too much.

In 2010, health professional drug abuse at Western Australia hospitals was discovered as a result of an investigation by the Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC). The results were astonishing. Nurses were stealing and self-administering prescription drugs. Co-workers failed to report incidences of clear evidence of drug abuse by nurses and doctors. When controls were instituted, the number of pain killing tablets used in a ward dropped from 16,000 annually to 200.² That was a startling indication people were probably stealing the drugs so they could sell them. The obvious conclusion is that a random alcohol drug testing program would have detected the abuse long before it required a CCC investigation. Part of the problem is that we assume people responsible for helping others maintain good health would not harm their own health. That is simply not true.

Is that the end of the story? In June 2013, in a sign of a continuing problem, a registered nurse at the Royal Brisbane Hospital was given a suspended sentence for stealing a phone, iPad, money and cash from a nurses’ station to fund a drug habit. The nurse said she stole the drugs to maintain a habit developed to cope with shift work. She was addicted to meth, ice and speed.³

Illusion of Control

The intellectualisation of drug abuse refers to people who ironically justify their drug abuse because they believe in their ability to avoid addiction due to their education and intelligence. They believe they can avoid the dangers of drug addiction and thus minimise drug harms. It is difficult to understand how thoughts can lead to such misconceptions, but they do. Intellectualisation of drug abuse leads to a person telling him or herself a substance problem does not exist and views drugs or alcohol as controllable means of finding temporary relief from stress or other work or personal problems. What makes intellectualisation different from other types of justifications is that it relies on advanced education and training to generate confidence and arrogance about the ability to control drug and alcohol abuse. In criminal thinking, people turn off their thoughts, so to speak, and act in a way they believe will relieve problems, without considering the consequences. The intellectualisation of drug abuse is different in that health professionals actually condone their behaviours in their own minds because they are convinced they can control addiction and prevent harm to personal and professional lives.

Intellectualisation is insidious because it leads to people denying the existence and scope of the problem. That may sound like others who rationalise and deny a substance abuse problem exists, but there is a difference. Rationalisation is common across drug or alcohol users. Intellectualisation is related to professional training and education that builds confidence and a sense of control. It can lead to people refusing to admit a drug or alcohol problem exists because they have an illusion of control and intentional blindness to the potentially devastating consequences of substance abuse.

Delusion of Control

The doctor who wrote the article on intellectualization was a drug addict. He freely admits he deluded himself into thinking a problem did not exist because he was able to continue to achieve and maintain personal relationships, and was able to periodically stop using marijuana and space out use of opioids. In his mind, these factors proved he was not dependent on drugs and always had total control. In reality, his drug use was causing personal and career problems.

The lesson for employers is quite clear. Random drug and alcohol testing programs are applicable to every work situation, without regard for employee skill level, education or position. People are people, whether they are doctors, nurses, miners, engineers, office workers, construction workers or any other profession. Anyone can get lured by the evil promises of drugs and alcohol and develop an addiction. Therefore, one of the most important defences against drugs in the workplace is a consistent, enterprise-wide random drug and alcohol testing program.

Mediscreen at mediscreen.net.au provides onsitedrug and alcohol testing support services that are designed to fit workplace needs. We offer a high level of professionalism to ensure that drug and alcohol programs are administered with accuracy.

This article has been taken from : http://mediscreen.net.au/articles/workers-who-intellectualise-drug-abuse/