Say the words addict, or drug and alcohol addiction, and most people picture the homeless, or those featured on shows like Intervention or Addicted--people who have reached rock bottom and are largely without homes or money, and are most certainly without jobs.
The truth of addiction is that it affects people from all walks of life, including those in the white collar sector. Additionally, it’s possible for an addict to remain functional for quite some time, which means a white collar addict can get up every day and function at work, without anyone noticing the lengths they go to to feed and hide their addiction, until it’s too late.
Not Just Party Drugs
The Wolf of Wall Street depicted the white collar side of addiction beautiful and dynamic people with lots of money, taking party drugs, like Quaaludes and cocaine, to excess. Drug use and addiction is amusing, fun, and even sexy as entertainment. The reality of white collar addiction is not nearly as glamorous or as funny.
Jeff’s road to addiction didn’t begin in the New York party scene; it started with a car accident. The real estate executive was prescribed Oxycodone and Xanax and, over time, came to rely heavily on the drugs – first as pain relief, and then simply to function. Two and a half years after the accident he is still taking the medication at a rate of 22 pills a day: 12 Oxycodone and 10 Xanax.
Jeff’s story is like a lot of white collar addicts; it starts with a pain prescription and ends in addiction. Like many white collar addicts, he is also not seeking help for his problem. This is due in part to the fact that they see no need for help, and in part to fears of losing their jobs and livelihoods.
Addiction and Job Performance
You might think that white collar addicts have poor job performance. The reality is that many of them are highly functional. It’s not unusual for a white collar addict to do his job well, while intoxicated, and for his colleagues and workmates to be completely unaware of his drug problem until he goes into withdrawal. For many, it’s the drug and alcohol withdrawal that actually gets them to seek help, because they are simply unable to function without the drugs.
However, as long as the addict has the financial means, and the access to his drugs, he is not likely to reach the typical bottom. The white collar addict will reach a different kind of bottom altogether.
A Different Kind of Bottom
At some point the addiction become more expensive than even an executive salary can support. Add to this the fact that many executives are also family men with mortgages, private school tuition, and other financial obligations, and you have a recipe for white collar crime.
Because these addicts are highly functional, they could easily get away with all manner of crimes, such as embezzlement, fraud, and theft, for years before anyone discovers the truth. When the addict’s activities are finally discovered, his bottom is that he ends up serving time for his crimes. However, the worst part is that he can also take his company down with him. Clients don’t trust their assets to companies with a reputation for fraud; and if the executive was high enough on the food chain, it could also make the company the subject of a federal investigation.
Stopping the Addict
One solution might be having the white collar sector take its lead from the blue collar sector and institute periodic drug tests of all executives, and require those who test positive to enter rehab as a condition of keeping their jobs.
Another option is to educate people on the signs and symptoms of white collar addiction, such as erratic mood swings, unexplained disappearances throughout the work day, and dramatic changes in personal appearance and personal hygiene, and giving them an avenue for reporting suspicious behavior to human resources.