Behavioral health is a major issue with professionals such as a doctor, lawyer, investor, entrepreneur, or corporate executive. These people make good money and tend to have surplus amounts of cash to spend on alcohol and drugs. They also have high positions of power and can easily acquire illegal drugs.
Middle to upper class white-collar workers deal with a significant amount of stress, regardless of their profession. While many find healthy ways to deal with the pressure, others turn to drugs and alcohol. There are many reasons behind white-collar addiction, including:
The work culture: Certain jobs encourage people to use alcohol and drugs.
Desire to boost performance: White-collar workers may use drugs to boost their energy levels the same way athletes use drugs to enhance performance.
High stress: Some jobs are very stressful, leading workers to use drugs to cope with white-collar problems.
Easy access: In certain professions such as medicine, drugs are readily available.
Mental health problems: Some drugs, such as opiates and stimulants, carry a high risk of addiction.
The most commonly abused substances among white-collar professionals include:
Alcohol: While alcohol statistics tend to vary between industries, alcohol is still the most commonly abused substance by white-collar workers.
Pills: Opioids such as Vicodin, Xanax, OxyContin, and Fentanyl, along with sleeping pills such as Ambien, have been used extensively by white-collar workers. Their availability makes many people resort to them for relaxation, stress relief and to induce sleep at night.
Illicit drugs: Though less common, illegal drugs like cocaine and heroin have slowly made their way into white-collar professions.
Aside from alcohol and drug abuse, white-collar professionals may also suffer from process addictions to:
Sex
Gambling
Eating
Internet
Gaming
Working