Progressive Indications of Drug and Alcohol Abuse

Discussions on the signs and symptoms of drugs and alcohol abuse can lead employers to believe that the physical and behavioural changes are immediately obvious. Just the fact workers test positive for substances during random drug and alcohol testing, to the great surprise of co-workers and the employer, is a good indication that some people are good at hiding their problems. People normally do not drink or use an illicit drug and suddenly become addicted. It is a process with progressively worsening signs and symptoms. Without drug and alcohol testing, an employer may not discover a worker has a problem until it is too late. The worker experiences an injury, makes a scene, has a life-threatening episode, threatens a co-worker, or otherwise exhibits extreme emotions and behaviours. Until that point in time, few or no signs may be noticeable. It is just one more reason why drug and alcohol testing programs are so important.

The progressive signs of substance abuse may be fairly rapid or quite slow. A lot depends on the person. Almost all addictive drugs directly or indirectly increase the release of dopamine by the brain’s neurons. However, though the pace of progression is unique to each person, one thing is certain: The vast majority of people will experience increasingly worse physical, behavioural, and emotional symptoms.

One of the most interesting findings by researchers is that there is a poor correlation between states of pleasure, as described by the substance abuser, and the actual drug use. This is another way of saying a person taking larger and larger amounts of drugs do not report feeling more pleasure. In fact, the more drugs taken, the less euphoric the experience, according to drug addicts.¹ This is one of the progression symptoms of a chronic drug user, though it may not be apparent to the employer or co-workers at first. What happens is that the person takes larger amounts of drugs in a search for the euphoria once felt, and that will eventually cause physical and mental issues.

Correlating Substance Abuse and Job Performance

The typical progression of substance addiction is fairly well known. People at first use the drugs to relieve periodic stress or to see what it is like to “get high.” As the person continues using the drugs or alcohol, he or she begins to sneak its use, experiences bouts of depression, and starts to lose interest in normal activities. As the addiction takes hold, the person will refuse to talk about drugs or alcohol, cannot seem to stop its use, starts eating poorly, and begins to isolate from others. Finally, the addict becomes fixated on the drug or alcohol addiction and blames everyone else for their problems.

How does this progression correlate to job performance decline? Assume someone has a good job performance history, gets along well with others, and is dependable. When that person starts using drugs and alcohol on a routine basis, the visible signs and symptoms are in comparison to normal behaviour. In the early phase, the worker will begin to make more mistakes, start being late to work, and begins to have problems with co-workers. The lies start almost immediately. The employer may suspect something is wrong fairly quickly because employees who lie are often caught in those lies.

In the next phase of substance abuse, job performance continues to decline. The normal work pace is not maintained, and the person becomes undependable. To avoid co-workers’ suspicions, the worker begins to avoid contact with them and stops joining groups of workers in the lunch room or stops attending voluntary group activities. A change in attitude is typical with resentments growing. Usually, a substance abuser gets defensive and overreacts to any imagined or real criticism. Someone who has never had money problems may ask to borrow money from co-workers or request a pay advance. As time progresses, the job performance falls far below expectations and the person becomes noticeably agitated at times. The workers disappears for periods of time, takes a lot of time off work, and goes to lunch but does not return. The worker is completely undependable. At this stage, the worker may begin to have legal problems like being stopped for driving whilst drunk or domestic problems that spill over into the workplace. There are signs of aggression. In the late phase of addiction, there are now visible physical signs of deterioration. The employer may discipline the worker for poor job performance but nothing improves. By now there is a good chance the worker is using drugs or alcohol in the workplace. The worker becomes incompetent.^2,3

Recognising the Truth

Employers choosing to adopt drug alcohol testing policy and procedures are recognising that substance use is not always detectable. It may take a while for the drug or alcohol abuse to become evident. In the meantime, the substance abuser is a threat to workplace health and safety, and is creating untold issues concerning job performance and worker relations.

Random drug and alcohol testing is important to every employer and in every employer location. There is no reason to wait for substance abusers to deteriorate to the point where substance abuse is visibly noticeable or work performance is unacceptable. NATA accredited, Mediscreen (mediscreen.net.au) offers expert drug screening services wherever people are working and helps thousands of employers learn about drug or alcohol use in the workplace long before it becomes a problem.

This article has been taken from : http://www.mediscreen.net.au/progressive-indications-of-drug-and-alcohol-abuse/