Along with the bleak economic outlook for 2009, and prospects for continuing financial uncertainty in the years to come, there is another more personally devastating family event that often surfaces with predictable regularity.

People with economic stressors frequently turn to alcohol and drugs as a means to buffer themselves against the harsh realities of the workplace and home.

This comes as no surprise to those of us in the healthcare industry, as we are often on the forefront of the economic meltdown that is happening not only to Wall Street, but to doctors’ offices, hospitals, nursing homes and every facility that seeks to provide patient care. Indeed, some studies have shown healthcare industry workers are more prone to drug abuse than the common population. The Cleveland Clinic, in a study done in 2005, estimated 80 percent of anesthesiology residency training programs experienced problems with physicians abusing drugs.

Medical professionals are especially susceptible to prescription drug abuse because they not only have the knowledge of pharmaceutical medications and their side effects but they also have more ready access to those drugs. With greater responsibilities placed on a dwindling number of healthcare workers, the pressure to perform without making a medical error is often too much for the average person to handle. Sadly, a small percentage compensate for the demands placed upon them by resorting to drugs or alcohol for relief from their seemingly endless hours of frustration and overwork.

Karen Vertigan Pope, who works with impaired professionals in the United Kingdom, reports that studies have shown as many as 15% of medical professionals will abuse drugs or alcohol sometime in their career, with pain killers and sleeping pills the most common type of drug abused by medical professionals.

According to E. Jane Marshall of the National Addiction Centre, Institute of Psychiatry at the King’s College London, studies of healthcare professionals in North America indicate while alcohol abuse may be no higher among doctors than the general population, the rate of prescription drug abuse was substantially more prevalent. No doubt, access to these drugs is much easier and, thus, the medical profession is susceptible to increased drug abuse by those afflicted with the disease of addiction. A complicating factor inherent in the problem of doctors abusing drugs is the reluctance of their fellow professionals to report their suspicions and the general unwillingness of the impaired physician to suffer the humiliation that attends a confession of his or her disease.

What is clear is that treatment is needed for those healthcare professionals who are experiencing problems associated with alcohol or drug use. It is, therefore, important that we recognize and understand the signs and symptoms of that abuse in individuals that we see on a daily basis. Some telltale indications of a problem are:

• Deteriorating relationships with family and friends.

• Erratic moods.

• Unexplained long absences.

• Intoxication, deliriousness, incoherence or unconsciousness.

• Decreased performance at work.

• Reclusive behavior.

• Lying and stealing.

The available solutions to addressing the problem of drug abuse among healthcare workers are myriad and vary according to the work environment involved. By way of example, hospitals and healthcare organizations may establish employee assistance programs to provide wellness training and stress management programs for their staff.

Healthcare organizations may provide access to behavioral health providers on their own staffs or in their community who have expertise in counseling healthcare professionals.

These experts may also provide workshops on stress reduction and coping skills for the staff and the community at large.

Here at Townsend, not only do we see and treat many healthcare professionals, but we also provide speakers and consultation services for staff members who may be suffering with problems related to addiction. For others who are just in need of a means to redirect their energies in a more positive way, we are poised to assist in establishing proper coping skills and mechanisms to maximize their personal satisfaction with their lives and profession.

Townsend is on the forefront of addiction therapy. With a physician directed treatment protocol, the care provided people facing addiction is now far more improved than what has been traditionally been offered. A combination of medical management of detoxification allows stabilization with a minimum of distress, while behavioralfocused counseling provides the needed personal and emotional support required for long term results. Coupled with an innovated method for delivering these services close to your home environment, Townsend now offers the most effective method of treatment.

With its entry into the Atlanta market, Townsend brings its expertise and training to a new city and a community in need of this modality of therapy. The first of several centers is now open at 555 Sun Valley Drive, Roswell, Georgia. Additional centers will be opening in and around the Atlanta area, so that there will be a facility close to where you live or work. Other centers will soon be available in other major metropolitan areas around Georgia.