Executives in Rehab

Posted by Pat Olsen on March 24, 2012

I wrote about executives and rehab just about a year ago, here: High-Level Executives Also Need Rehab and here: Understanding the High-Functioning Alcoholic. And if you read those posts, you know that Malibu Beach Recovery Center has a discreet executive program.young exec.jpg

I don’t know how rehab usually works, but I would think that programs would strongly suggest, if not require, that clients leave the outside world behind when they check in, so they can focus on recovery. I’d think this idea would especially apply to executives, who might be sorely tempted to check on how the company is doing without their expertise, or whom workers would think they need to contact about important decisions.  It seems that’s not always the case, though, or that – could it really be? – I’m wrong.

According to a February article in the Huffington Post, some treatment facilities find that “patients' connection to professional life can help the recovery process -- and make it more likely that the treatment will stick.” There’s something about seeing the effect that workplace stress can have on a person that can make him or her want to learn techniques for handing it better, one interviewee said.

The writer attributed that to the turmoil in the labor market over the last few years, which, he said, has caused an increase in substance abuse. Bill Moyers, well-known staffer at Hazelden, said his center reached a record enrollment last year.

On one hand, it makes perfect sense to me that people would be allowed to keep in touch with work. How many times have you heard someone with a substance abuse problem say that they couldn’t possibly take X amount of time away from their job to attend rehab? And some might argue that if it works for some people, don’t knock it. On the other hand, it seems pretty weird to think about someone Skyping with a colleague back in the office or talking animatedly on his or her cellphone to a client. But then, as I’ve said many times, I’m not a professional. 

 

Photo by:  Photostock

Understanding the High-Functioning Alcoholic

Posted by Pat Olsen on April 18, 2011

I’ve run into several people whose alcoholic family member gets up each morning and goes to a job, so the sober person says their loved one doesn’t have a problem. For people who don’t understand substance abuse and addiction, the high-functioning alcoholic can be difficult for some people to wrap their brain around.Sarah Allen Benton.jpg

Understanding the High-Functioning Alcoholic: Professional Views and Personal Insights, by Sarah Allen Benton, explains that some of us are influenced by the stereotype of the jobless and homeless substance abuser who’s all tapped out. That’s what an alcoholic is to them. Benton calls people who represent this stereotype “low-bottom drunks.” and I take that to mean drinking takes over these peoples’ lives to the point where they lose everything and can barely function.

Roughly 18 million people suffer from alcohol abuse or dependence in this country, and about 9% of those fit the stereotype just mentioned, according to the book. However, 20% of people who abuse alcohol may be high-functioning, Benton tells us. They work, often in prestigious careers, and they can maintain a life outside work. They often hide their disease well. Plus, their success makes it even easier for them to deny they have a problem.

But this group exhibits the same warning signs as anyone with a drinking problem: They experience blackouts, they feel shame about their drinking, they obsess about it, and they can’t stop. There are several other signs as well. Plus, they’re on the road that leads to one place only: death.

Benton speculates that there’s not a lot of research on this segment of drinkers simply because they’re higher functioning. They don’t pose as severe a problem for society and government systems as their severely addicted counterparts. Her discussion of famous “HFAs”, as she calls them, reminds us that no one is immune. The list goes on and on: Buzz Aldrin, Elizabeth Taylor, celebrity host Pat O’Brien, Representative Patrick Kennedy, Grammy winner Keith Urban, Eric Clapton, and more recently, Charlie Sheehan, to name a few. There but for the Grace of God go you and I.high functioning alcoholic bookcover-200.jpg

The book is divided into two sections: Active Alcoholism and Recovery, which I found to be an interesting approach.  It stands to reason that the author discusses the controversial topic of cutting down, or drinking in moderation, since it’s an option most HFAs probably consider. She presents a ton of research, both pro and con, and you can guess, on reading her background, which side she’s on.

A high-functioning alcoholic herself, Benton is a mental health counselor in Boston entering her 7th year of sobriety. Her story of alcoholism and recovery, woven throughout the book in actual entries from a journal she kept, seem especially poignant, probably because as a professional she has great insight into her experiences. “The longer I have been in recovery, the more I change my perspective on my past,” she writes.

Here’s a blog post Benson wrote for Psychology Today: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-high-functioning-alcoholic/200903/high-functioning-alcoholics-are-everywhere-are-not-gettin

There’s a lot of information in this book, but if it’s the personal story that always gets you, Benton certainly has one.