One in three smokers increases their consumption in the face of professional difficulties. Work addictions often favored by the culture of the company.
85% of business leaders and staff representatives are worried. There is consensus on the subject of addictive behavior in the workplace. According to a BVA survey commissioned by the Interministerial Mission for the Fight against Drugs and Addictive Behaviors (Mildeca), 91% of bosses declare that their subordinates consume a psychoactive product. This vague term hides many realities: alcohol, cigarettes, cannabis, ecstasy… The Mission therefore ordered a literature paper at the French Observatory for Drugs and Drug Addiction (OFDT). In addition to the glaring socio-professional disparities, the report reveals a fundamental problem: addictive behavior can be closely linked to the culture of the company.
Too much boredom leads to addiction
It is not uncommon to increase your consumption of psychoactive substances when professional life turns stormy. Tobacco smokers are the most likely to do so (1 in 3). But one in ten cannabis or alcohol addicts also have this reflex. More worrying: a study carried out by Inserm in 2012 reveals that a quarter of the working population needed psychotropic drugs because their working conditions deteriorated.
Stress is a fairly debated risk factor. Measuring it is proving to be quite difficult, recalls the OFDT, especially since personal life can affect professional behavior. But the business environment does have an impact on addictive behavior. Working hours are a good example. Several studies have concluded that there is an association between irregular, intense or nocturnal schedules. “The fact that SPA consumption is higher on average in the hotel and restaurant sector can be partly explained by these staggered and irregular schedules”, analyzes the OFDT.
Conversely, boredom can promote addictive behavior. The 2005 Health Barometer thus showed that job dissatisfaction is linked to an increase in tobacco and alcohol consumption among young men and women over 40.
Social alcohol
Relationships between staff members are very important in influencing behavior. Victims of harassment or bullying use more psychoactive substances than average. But the authors note that a careful hierarchy can help put employees back in line.
This is the whole problem raised by this review of the literature. If the question of corporate culture does not arise too much for tobacco or illicit substances (ecstasy, cocaine, cannabis, etc.), it represents a real problem in the case of alcohol. In New Zealand, a study has shown that drunkenness is a process of identification with company codes. Among the 2,409 CFA apprentices in Nord-Pas-de-Calais followed in 2013, 8% were offered alcohol. And consumption continues outside working hours, since 40% of working people have been drinking with colleagues after leaving according to the 2010 Health Barometer. An edifying figure which testifies to the social role of alcohol.
Train occupational physicians
The repercussions are more difficult to assess. The most recent study (2012) questioned 512 construction workers – the construction sector being one of the biggest consumers of psychoactive substances. 21% of them witnessed a problem or incident related to such consumption in the workplace. At the head of the consequences: absenteeism and relationship problems. This number is probably underestimated, according to the OFDT, which denounces “the lack of freedom of speech on the subject of addictions. “
It is precisely to untie languages that Mildeca organized, on October 22, a conference bringing together businesses and health professionals. Its president, Danièle Jourdain-Menninger, announced the training of 6,000 occupational physicians in the early detection of addictive behavior by the end of 2015.
.