Renaissance Ranch

How Addiction Affects Coworkers

Nov 15, 2015

Addiction coworkers pic.jpg
This series is a continuation of the previous article “Addiction: A Family Affair,” as well as the article “How Addiction Affects Friends.”
 
The symptoms of addiction affect far more than just the addict, themselves. There are clear indications that the people around them, the people who care about them, feel the pain that is caused by that addiction. Addiction can lead to other destructive behavior, both to themselves and others. This slippery slope will eventually cause the meaningful relationships that addicts have to erode, making it harder to recover. This series is about the different people who are affected in the life of an addict. Here’s how friendship affects your coworkers…
 
Affects your job performance
 
Drugs have the capability to fundamentally change who you are as a person, at least for as long as you are suffering from addiction. This means that your work ethic can be affected by drug abuse. Addiction will hamper your ability to do your job well, in many cases, as it affects you both mentally and physically. This means that your job might be at stake, sadly. Being in this situation will greatly affect your relationship with your coworkers.
 
Makes you more difficult to work with
 
It’s no big secret that drugs can have a very negative effect on your personality. One of the most noticeable effects of addiction is how it changes who a person is. This noticeable change might be viewed negatively by your coworkers, especially if it brings out emotions such as anger or depression. This may make your coworkers less likely to want to deal with you. Also, addiction comes with a stigma that often repels people, sadly. This shouldn’t necessarily be the case, but it is a reality. Addiction can easily alienate you from the people you work with.
 
Makes you less reliable
 
As your job performance begins to suffer during your struggle with addiction, due to changes to your personality, your reliability might begin to suffer. If this is the case, then your coworkers are going to be much less likely to approach you about certain job responsibilities, or even come to doubt your ability to get work done in the first place. This will make you less active at the job, which could further alienate you and possibly put your job at stake. Putting yourself in that situation might make you more susceptible to negative behaviors that accompany addiction in the first place, causing a lifestyle spiral.