This article explores the prevalence of substance use disorders among academics and the challenges they face in seeking help. It highlights the stigma surrounding these conditions and the unique pressures faced by individuals in this profession.
Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript. In 2003, Wendy Dossett chaired an international symposium at a UK university. “I don’t remember chairing it.
I know that I did, but I don’t remember anything that happened,” she says. At the time, she did not think that she had an alcohol problem. “I thought I could not possibly be an alcoholic — I had a PhD, I was holding down a high-pressure academic job, I didn’t fit the image of what an alcoholic is,” she remembers. It took 2 years for her to seek treatment, and another 14 years before she told her employers at the University of Chester, UK, where she worked in religious studies, that she was in recovery.Dossett is not alone, but academics who struggle with substance-use disorders, or who are recovering from them, are often hidden from view. These conditions affect a person’s brain and behaviour as a result of uncontrolled use of alcohol, prescription medications or illegal drugs (see ‘What is drug or alcohol-use disorder?’). Evidence shows that substance-use disorders are chronic diseases — involving changes to the brain’s systems for reward, stress and control — rather than a choice (see Dependency disorders are present in people of all professions, but academics — who often set their own schedules and work regularly in isolation — are often good at concealing them, or might not realize that they have a problem. Moreover, the competitive environment and concerns about professional reputations, along with a fear of being fired, deter many from disclosing their illness. But some institutions are pioneering programmes to support staf
SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS ACADEMICS MENTAL HEALTH STIGMA SUPPORT PROGRAMS
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