Alcohol, Career Stress, and the Lie of “I Function Just Fine” (E271)

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“I function just fine, it’s not like I’m missing work”, I said until I started missing work. “I have a masters degree, I couldn’t have gotten this far if I was an alcoholic.” Have you ever thought things like this to yourself? Most drinkers are able to function. Most will never reach the stereotypical alcoholic that we think of. High functioning doesn’t mean not a problem, and in this episode we’ll discuss drinking to cope with career stress, when drinking feels like it’s a part of the job, and the identity shift that is required when we link our self-worth to external things like career success. You’ll learn about 2 models for alcohol and the workplace: the culture/availability model and the alienation/stress model.

What to listen to next:

E204: Can Anyone Get Addicted to Alcohol?

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Cite:

Gillian Tietz. Alcohol, Career Stress, and the Lie of “I Function Just Fine” (E271). Sober Powered. 2025

Please respect my intellectual property and properly credit me if you share my work.

Sources

1. Parsley, I. et al. Association Between Workplace Absenteeism and Alcohol Use Disorder From the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2015-2019. JAMA. 2022

2. Thorrisen, M. et al. Association between alcohol consumption and impaired work performance (presenteeism): a systematic review. BMJ Open. 2019

3. Frone, M. Work Stress and Alcohol Use. Alcohol Res Health. 1999

4. Frone MR. Alcohol and illicit drug use in the workforce and workplace. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association; 2013.

5. ‌Matson LM, Kasten CR, Boehm SL 2nd, Grahame NJ. Selectively bred crossed high-alcohol-preferring mice drink to intoxication and develop functional tolerance, but not locomotor sensitization during free-choice ethanol access. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2014;38(1):267-274. 

6. Dean AC, Kohno M, Morales AM, et al. Denial in methamphetamine users: Associations with cognition and functional connectivity in brain. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2015;151:84-91.