Addiction is a dangerous and often highly misunderstood mental health condition. When an individual is addicted to a substance or behaviour, they will repeatedly seek out this addiction even if they have previously experienced negative consequences as a result of this.
Addiction often worsens quickly over time because of this, meaning that the individual affected is likely to experience more impacts to their everyday life, sometimes influencing how they behave and how they are able to carry out regular responsibilities in daily life activities such as their career.
This will be the focus of this article – how can addiction impact individuals at work, especially in the context of a small business?
Effects of addiction – the process of recovery
In the US particularly, there has been research showing that over 25 million Americans have partaken in addiction recovery – some of them remaining in long-term care for decades (1).
When compared to other mental health conditions, as well as physical recovery processes, this can be significant.
However, it is also important to remember that addiction is a complex disorder, generally requiring stages of focussed care programmes that are specialised toward the individual and their needs.
In some circumstances, individuals may relapse i.e., where they continue to consume the substance that they are addicted to/engage in addictive behaviours after they have withdrawn from this as a part of their expert rehabilitation process.
This can increase the amount of time spent in recovery significantly as the individual will often have to start the process again, starting with a withdrawal session/detoxification before moving on to further treatment.
Unique challenges within small businesses
So how can this impact small businesses? In many cases, it is the unique challenges faced within small businesses that can make the effects of addiction more prominent – for both the individual struggling with the addiction and their employers and/or colleagues.
Generally, a small business refers to a privately-owned company with a limited number of employees (and therefore generally lower levels of sales, as well).
This means that every individual in the team may be more impacted by the possibility of one of their colleagues (or themselves) struggling with addiction in the workplace. Some of the specific challenges are outlined over the following subheadings, with emphasis on how addiction may also impact this.
1) Smaller workforce
As mentioned briefly in the paragraph above, a small business often has far fewer employees than a regular business, meaning that the lack of an individual is far more likely to be noticed, either in terms of socialising, or in terms of workload.
In many cases, addiction can lead to individuals requiring time off from work, either as a result of their symptoms while they are still struggling, or as a result of needing time off for treatment and/or rehabilitation.
In addition, the lack of presence of an individual can also cause worry and/or stress within their colleagues. For close-knit teams, the lack of presence of an individual in the workplace where they are normally expected can be off-putting, concerning, or distracting for others – especially for valued members of the team.
2) More responsibilities
On a similar note, if an individual has time off for addiction symptoms and/or treatment, then their responsibilities may get neglected.
In the cases where an individual is receiving treatment and/or is in rehabilitation for their addiction, there is not much that can be done in these situations and therefore individuals should not feel any guilt about missing out on work.
However, these unavoidable situations are likely to add to the responsibilities that others in the workplace may have to pick up, adding to these other employees’ workload and potential stress levels.
3) Sense of community
As a final note, the sense of community felt in a small business is often one that is highly respected, meaning that if an individual is struggling with addiction and therefore unable to be present and/or complete their assigned responsibilities, this may be noted by other employees.
Though, again, there can be no blame placed on the individual (as addiction is a complex and difficult disorder to live with), this may be experienced; we are all human and the lack of work in one individual’s area can quickly spread to others’, creating a cycle of issues.
What can small business owners do to reduce these impacts?
So how can a small business owner/entrepreneur help with these issues? The primary aim of this is to ensure that individuals have a respectful and safe environment in which they can complete their work tasks while receiving the support they need.
No business owner has the responsibility to find rehabilitation for their employees, but there are other ways that these individuals can ensure that their employees feel safe, seen, and supported while at work.
The following subheadings outline some of these key methods and how they may best be implemented in terms of a small business.
1) Open door policy
As a first port of call, employees, managers, and business owners should generally try and abide by the idea of an open-door policy.
Though this does not necessarily mean that all employers should always keep their office doors open to open conversations with employees, it does mean that individuals in these positions should be willing and ready to speak to employees that need it about a range of topics.
This is a general idea of being open and honest in the workplace and avoiding stigma, taboo, and other stereotypes that may be associated with struggles such as those with addiction.
2) Occupational therapy
Though research into the specific use of occupational therapists in the workplace for the benefit of addiction (also known as substance use disorder) is not yet beneficial (2), the application of this is still highly recommended.
An occupational therapist, though not always full-time, works within a business to provide mental health support to employees – an area in which the individual may not feel comfortable speaking to a manager or boss about.
By having an occupational therapist available for employees to speak to, individuals may be more likely to speak about issues they face at work (addiction related or otherwise) and work with the occupational therapist to overcome these issues, boosting their work performance.
3) Regular conversations about addiction in the workplace
As a final point, addiction is a disorder that is often highly stigmatised and generally avoided as a topic at work.
However, it is vital that this changes.
By bringing more awareness to addiction, its symptoms, and how it may affect individuals at work, it is far more likely that individuals will be more understanding and supportive if a colleague does then come forward with struggles with addiction in the future.
This could be achieved by leading meetings or presentations on addiction specifically, or by including is a part of education on mental health in the workplace. Conversations should always be encouraged as a result of this, as well.
Seeking further support for addiction within small businesses today
Any individual struggling with addiction should seek rehabilitation as soon as possible to avoid the short- and long-term consequences and this can be achieved through many different paths.
Contacting the individual’s local health services is a great way to get some next steps, but in the case of serious addictions and the symptoms of this, the emergency services should always be contacted.
Resources used
[1] Humphreys, K. and Bickel, W.K., 2018. Toward a neuroscience of long-term recovery from addiction. JAMA psychiatry, 75(9), pp.875-876.
[2] Rojo-Mota, G., Pedrero-Pérez, E.J. and Huertas-Hoyas, E., 2017. Systematic review of occupational therapy in the treatment of addiction: Models, practice, and qualitative and quantitative research. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 71(5), pp.7105100030p1-7105100030p11.
