Long Work Weeks and Alcoholism

Can working long hours turn you into an alcoholic? The answer is not so simple.

Those who work more than 40 hours a week are more likely to have strained relationships, less social activity, and more stress in their lives. Each of these factors alone can cause someone to turn to alcohol or drugs, but all the factors combined definitely puts them at risk of turning to these substances. They drink alcohol or do drugs to escape from their lives and relax, most of the time not realizing that they are leading themselves into a life of alcoholism.

Multiple studies have been done on the subject of long work weeks and alcoholism. One study in particular, published in the British Medical Journal, studies over 300,000 people in North America, New Zealand, Europe and Asia. Researchers found that people who worked over 48 hours a week were 11 percent more likely to over indulge in alcohol. This is defined as more that 21 drinks a week for men, or 14 drinks a week for women.

It is important to learn how to balance all of the things that are going on in your life. Relationships, hobbies and jobs all take up a lot of time. Time management is a great skill to learn so you do become stressed and turn to alcohol to calm you down.