Triggers at Work in Recovery

The shift ends, and the plan that used to follow it was never just to go home. Payday can restart it. So can the people who still go out, or a week that left you raw. That is a cue. It is not a verdict on the job.

If you are in withdrawal, or someone at work will not wake, call 911. For a mental health crisis, call or text 988.

Name the piece that comes first

SAMHSA's Matrix handbook uses a Friday night as the lesson. Someone cashes a paycheck, goes out with friends, and uses stimulants. The cues can be the night, the money, the friends, and the bar. One of those pieces can start the rest even when you meant to stop.

NIDA describes cognitive behavioral therapy as practice for stressful emotions and for cues such as people, places, things, and moods tied to past use. A brutal week can be a mood cue. It does not mean you chose the wrong field.

Tonight, write down what usually comes first. If money is the cue, do not handle a large amount of cash. Put something else on the night that used to be the bar, the way the handbook's example puts exercise and a mutual-help meeting there, and follow what you wrote while you are still thinking clearly. A plan that stays in your head is easy to rewrite at 6 p.m. When a coworker holds out a drink, use a short no. A parking lot can still stir a craving years later. Practice relapse-prevention skills with a program, not as a slogan you repeat alone. Planning for a known high-risk hour belongs on the calendar before that hour arrives.

If the job itself is the substance, or you can reach medicines at work, skipping a toast is too thin. Read health care workers and substance use for that setting.

What the workplace might already have

SAMHSA's toolkit tells employers that a written policy may restrict workplace alcohol, because it can affect safety and productivity, and suggests alcohol-free events around holidays. That is advice to organizations. Your office party may still have a bar. If it does, you can leave. Leaving is not a confession.

Where an employee assistance program exists, SAMHSA says it can include assessment, short-term counseling, and referrals. Work can suffer from a substance use disorder and also from family strain, money trouble, or stress. NIDA says many workplaces sponsor that short-term help or a link to local treatment, and that effective treatment has to address the job, not only drug use. Many workplaces is not every job. If you have a program, ask what it covers and who hears it. If you do not, you can still get care that asks about the shift.

Time away from work is a different form. Read workplace leave when the question is time off. Read who can see treatment records before you sign a release that names your employer. Ask who receives what. Read returning to work after rehab for the week you come back. What you tell coworkers can wait until you know the cue.

Search FindTreatment.gov for care that can meet around a shift. Call or text (800) 653-9376 if you want help finding a program.

Additional Resources

Sources cited on this page:

• SAMHSA Matrix Intensive Outpatient Treatment: Client's Handbook (SMA15-4154)
• SAMHSA: Provide Support (drug-free workplace toolkit)
• SAMHSA: Develop a Drug-Free Workplace Policy
• NIDA: Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment, third edition (revised January 2018)
• NIDA: Treatment
• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
• SAMHSA FindTreatment.gov

Common Questions