None is immune to stress and addiction-All are at risk

Professionals work in very stressful environment and many of them are suffering from addiction secretly

It’s easy to think only the less privilege in the society is the possible candidates for stress and addiction. This school of thought is in the mind of the majority and everyone wants to believe it however this is not always the case. Everybody is at risk of being addicted to any substance or being stressful in any environment. If you go to health institutions you will find medical staff trying to offer treatment to addicts, you may be tempted to believe that they themselves aren’t suffering from the same. Some are, and some definitely aren’t. In fact one out of 10 physicians have problems with alcohol or drugs at some point during their careers.

Those who admit they have an addiction to alcohol or drugs, as well as those who slip up and get reported, usually have to go through an intense substance abuse program before they can practice medicine again. Such physician health programs are pretty effective, helping around 80% of doctors recover from their problems. But these programs raise some ethical questions and I ask.

None is immune to stress and addiction-Is your doctor impaired?

Given that drug- or alcohol-impaired doctors aren’t rare, it’s possible you may come across one someday that is if you haven’t. You might suspect a drug or alcohol problem from your doctor if you notice some of these signs:

slurs words
stumbles
lacks coordination
forgets beyond what is reasonable
looks unusually disheveled
is irritable or easily angered
becomes overly emotional

It must be noted that these aren’t specific to drug or alcohol abuse, but they could be the result of drug or alcohol use. They could also be due to many other issues, such as a personal problem (marital difficulty or death of a loved one, among others), a medical illness (such as diabetes or the onset of dementia), or another mental health problem. Keep in mind that doctors, like the rest of us, can be very good about hiding an addiction. This drug problem is not affecting only the medics but it cuts across all professions.

None is immune to stress and addiction-Reporting

What should you do if you think one of your doctors has a drug or alcohol addiction? For your own protection, it would make sense to find a new doctor, though this might be difficult if there aren’t many in your area. If the doctor you are concerned about works in a group practice or a hospital setting, talk with the practice administrator, clinic chief, division head, ombudsman, or other doctor in the practice in an objective and matter-of-fact way. They are obligated to ensure that their colleagues are safe to practice medicine.

If your suspicions are strong enough, and you don’t trust the doctor’s colleagues to take appropriate action, voice your concerns to the state board of medicine. Someone there will then be obliged to do some investigating.

Who is an addict? With addictive tragedies striking every community in the nation – with many millions of Americans addicted to alcohol and drugs alone – legions of scientists are asking: What aspects of psychological makeup contribute to addiction? Are there common threads that weave through all addictions, from hard drugs to cigarettes, from gambling to overeating?

It is part of a much broader effort that has already seen progress in understanding the chemistry of addiction, as biochemists isolate the chemicals and mechanisms by which the brain gives itself pleasure. And the whole panoply of addiction research has led to insights that buttress a profusion of therapies. Though some of them hold great promise, all would benefit from an increased understanding of the addictive personality.

Despite the wide gulf between an addiction to drugs and an addiction to gambling, some mental health experts find it useful to view addiction as including all self-destructive, compulsive behaviors. Some even go so far as to include the relatively benign activity of compulsive television-watching.

In bringing together much of the existing knowledge on the personality’s role in addictions, with an emphasis on drugs and alcohol, a new study prepared for the National Academy of Sciences concludes that there is no single set of psychological characteristics that embrace all addictions. But the study does see common elements from addiction to addiction.

None is immune to stress and addiction-Factors contributing to addiction

The report finds that there are several ”significant personality factors” that can contribute to addiction:

Impulsive behavior, difficulty in delaying gratification, an antisocial personality and a disposition toward sensation seeking.
A high value on nonconformity combined with a weak commitment to the goals for achievement valued by the society.
A sense of social alienation and a general tolerance for deviance.
A sense of heightened stress. This may help explain why adolescence and other stressful transition periods are often associated with the most severe drug and alcohol problems.

Professionals believes that the continuing search for the personality traits that play a part in the development of addictions is an essential part of the broader fight against addiction, an opinion shared by others familiar with the field. ”If we can better identify the personality factors, ”they (doctors) can help us devise better treatment and can open up new strategies to intervene and break the patterns of addiction.”

Moreover, it’s believes that the insights provided by this kind of research could lead to much more effective preventive programs than those available today, to be used ”before problems reach the critical stage.” Supplementing the personality factors listed in the academy’s report, other behavioral scientists who have studied addicts point to additional often-found features of personality or background – a lack of self-esteem, marked depression or anxiety, physical or sexual abuse in childhood, and sharply conflicting parental expectations.

The broad approach to addiction is taken by Lawrence J. Hatterer, an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at the Cornell University Medical College who wrote in his book, ”The Pleasure Addicts” (Barnes) that ”Addictive behavior has invaded every aspect of American life today. We all feel the cloud of concern about becoming addictive – preoccupation with weight, smoking, drinking too much, or being caught in an excess of spending, acquiring, gambling, sex or work.”

Among other activities which, done in excess, have been characterized as addictive behavior are caffeine consumption, eating of chocolates or other sugar-laden foods, television watching, playing video games and even running.

None of these activities are considered to be addictions by doctors unless they involve excessive, repetitive use of pleasurable activities to cope with unmanageable internal conflict, pressure and stress. While such activity may begin pleasurably in a person’s life, the process in the addict involves increasing activity to achieve the same effect and eventually results in injury to the person’s health or to his work, family and social relationships. The addicted person typically denies that his activity is detrimentally affecting him. If the addict is forced to stop, he finds he suffers physical or psychological withdrawal pains, and often feels compelled to resume his excessive pattern.