They did not take responsibility for their serious problems and there was nothing in society pushing them to change. In fact, oftentimes their environment was helping them to stay sick.
If there is any hope for an employee
to get back to work, the first step aſter a positive drug or alcohol test is to meet with a Substance Abuse Professional. Tat step alone is a big thing for many individuals. Most people have never seen a counselor or talked to a professional about mental issues. It’s a step that holds people responsible for their actions, and it is scary for them. Sometimes, for the casual or regular user, that is all that is needed. He changes because of the disruption in his life. With proper deterrence, it becomes long-lasting. General embarrassment combined with loss of income oſten encourages a person to look at what he is doing and decide to make changes. He has to admit that he alone is responsible for the failure. Learning what he has to do to change is the next part. Tis learning, plus follow-up testing (i.e., accountability) aids the person in his decisions going forward. Te addicted employee needs
responsibility and accountability, and usually time as well. I began my addiction counselling career working in a public detoxification unit back in 1985. By
10 datia focus
now, I am prety good at determining when someone is alcohol or substance abuse dependent. I have witnessed some spectacular recoveries; but unfortunately, I have also witnessed some people who have crashed and burned. What I found out very early in my career
was that, in many cases, when an addict gets physically healthy, he does not think that he is sick anymore. He forgets the steps that occurred to get him to that place where he had to get medically detoxed. He forgets the misery, his distorted thinking process, and the problems that he had when using. When he feels beter, he thinks that he is beter. Tis is dangerous thinking, because he believes that he doesn’t need any help. He wants this incident behind him and quickly. I oſten wondered how someone could
come into the facility in such bad shape, and in a few days believe that all was well. He would leave brimming with gratitude and self-confidence, expressing that this was his last admission. But shortly aſterward, he’d do the whole thing again. I felt good when my clients were leaving with praise for our facility, until they came back again shortly
aſter. In fairness, this is probably quite typical of public detoxification centers. Some people came back many times, and nothing changed except that they were geting worse. Why weren’t they serious enough to change? I eventually found out that what was lacking was responsibility and accountability. Tey did not take responsibility for their serious problems and there was nothing in society pushing them to change. In fact, oſtentimes their environment was helping them to stay sick. My job of geting patients to see what
they were doing to themselves was difficult when they weren’t feeling sick anymore. Most patients had a support system that was keeping their addictive behavior alive. It may have been family, the social assistance system, the justice system, or friends who thought they were helping. But what was really happening was that the patient was not being held accountable for his behavior. He was aided and abeted in some way to stay as he was. Someone or something prevented him from seeing the consequences of his actions. Unfortunately, consequences are what tells the addict that
fall 2017
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