As addiction rates soar, employers can offer a lifeline

With the future uncertain, employees may be relying too heavily on unhealthy coping mechanisms, developing dangerous addictions to drugs and alcohol that can impact their lives for decades to come.

“Half of American workers appear to be having trouble with substance use, and of those people, about a third report that it's been impacting their work more since the pandemic started,” says Dr. Dan Jolivet, workplace possibilities practice consultant at insurance company, The Standard. “The average recovery for a person with an addiction in the U.S. looks to be about 20 years. So we want to get people treatment. We want to get these issues out into the open.”

Read more: 6 low-cost apps to help employees with drug and alcohol addiction 

Employees with addictions cost employers $740 billion annually, from lost productivity and healthcare costs, according to American Addiction Centers. Of the more than 21 million people with substance use disorders in the U.S., just 10% seek treatment, due to stigma and other barriers to care.

To help this vulnerable population, Jolivet sat down with Employee Benefit News to unveil the reasons behind climbing rates of addiction and share concrete ways organizations can support employees and destigmatize the conversation around substance use disorders.

What’s behind the continued increases in substance use disorders, even as life goes back to a semblance of normalcy? 
We know that increases in substance use disorders have been driven by a couple of factors that aren't completely resolved. First is isolation, which is one of the biggest factors for addiction and for relapse for people who have been in recovery. People are also using alcohol to cope with stress much more frequently. For the first time in history, women are now drinking as often as men — they're drinking more when they drink, they're drinking to excess more often, and they're having more problems because of drinking. Other disenfranchised groups — minorities, LGBTQ — have also been drinking and using drugs more as well. Another factor is that people have been putting off routine medical care because of the pandemic, and if they're in pain, they're at a very high risk for developing pain medication misuse disorder.

Dan Jolivet from The Standard

How are employers being impacted by this? 
Employees who are having trouble with substance misuse say they're not productive 20 or more hours a week. So that means that for the employer, maybe 13% of their total payroll is going toward paying people who are not able to give their best to work. There’s indirect costs too: people who've been drinking make mistakes. There’s a high likelihood of accidents or injuries.

The biggest challenge is that people don't disclose when they're struggling. And part of that is because of the fear: there’s the fear that people will have negative perceptions of them based on the problems they’re having. People worry that their coworkers will talk about them behind their backs. They're worried that they'll be treated differently by their employers. And especially, they're worried they'll be fired just for having a substance use issue, which of course, isn't legal under the Americans with Disabilities Act, but people worry about that.

Read more: Take it from a psychologist: Here’s what you need in your mental healthcare plans 

It seems like this stigma is similar to what people felt about mental health, but COVID has opened up that conversation. Why hasn’t addiction been talked about the same way? 
Unfortunately with all of the media attention and the discussion, there really isn’t evidence that it’s reduced the stigma around addiction. What makes addiction a condition, or what some people call a disease, is that this isn’t something that people choose or can control. We know there are genetic relationships where addiction does tend to run in families. We know there are neurochemical and biochemical changes where people's brains literally change as a result of addiction. Obviously, I believe that it should be acceptable to discuss addiction in the workplace. But addiction is still primarily misunderstood. And people still tend to think of it as a weakness or a choice or something that if you really tried, you would stop.

In order for employers to better understand and help employees who are struggling, where can they start? 
The most effective way that an employer can really start addressing this is to start using an anti-stigma campaign. There are free online campaigns that include training materials, posters, videos that we know from the research can be effective in both reducing stigma and increasing the likelihood that someone will seek help.

It's also crucial to teach managers and supervisors to recognize the signs and symptoms of addiction, and to help them understand how to talk to someone about that. And it really can be as simple as taking an employee aside and saying, Dan, you've been coming in late all week. Then ask a really simple open ended question, such as, what can I do to help? And then sit back and listen and be empathic. If the employee discloses a problem with alcohol and drugs, be prepared to give them some ideas about resources.

This is where an EAP really comes in as a cost-effective way to offer assistance for people. Employers can do things like offering access to early intervention and treatment programs, having HR talk explicitly about assisting with resources or offering treatment navigation services. We also really want to stress the importance of stay-at-work and return-to-work programs, where a professional will work directly with an employee to identify things that will help them to do their job effectively, to be able to meet their responsibilities with respect to their essential job functions.

Employers need to utilize all their vendors, including, and in my view, especially their disability insurance vendor. People just don't think about disability insurance when it comes to addictions. Disability insurance is more focused on helping people stay at, or return to work and to be healthy and safe doing so.

Technology also seems to be an accessible solution employers can offer, but does it have the same impact on addiction as other mental health needs? 
I think it's kind of a mixed bag at this point. We know that mental health apps for depression, anxiety, insomnia, have been shown to be virtually as effective as actual in-person treatment. Unfortunately, the research does not at this point unequivocally show a benefit toward sobriety, so I would personally recommend people use those as an addition to treatment or self-help support groups.

Read more: A perfect storm: Ginger’s CEO shares what’s in store for employee mental health

The biggest change we've seen across all healthcare, but particularly in addiction services, has been the shift to telehealth psychiatry and addiction support. The reality has always been that there are people that couldn't attend in-person meetings. So having the option to do virtual self-help groups is really important.

Do you feel optimistic that employers have the resources to give employees the help they need? Is it going to get better? 
I always say that as bad as things are, and as bad as the opioid epidemic has been skyrocketing, I’m still optimistic, because addiction is treatable and we know what works. So it's getting over the stigma, it's getting past the denial. But we can help people. The reality is about 60% of people with an addiction will recover. So it's not just that recovery is possible. It's the expected outcome.

Employers want people at the office, they want people working. People with addictions benefit from work. It's much more than a paycheck — there’s a sense of meaning and productivity, and employers can help support people to live their healthiest and most fulfilling lives.