FOR THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY

DID YOU KNOW? Al-Anon is for anyone whose life has been affected by a problem drinker, including a co-worker. Al-Anon members will come and speak at your company. Professionals can request informaton here:  http://www.al-anon.org/request-form-for-professionals

According to a national survey released by the Bureau of National Affairs, alcoholism and drug abuse cost American businesses more than $39 billion a year in lost productivity. Accidents related to alcohol and drug abuse, the survey found, were responsible for losses of an additional $81 billion. In a Gallup poll on alcohol abuse in America, 81 % of the respondents identified alcohol abuse as a national problem. In fact, one-third of those respondents reported that drinking causes problems in their own families. Those figures paint a vivid picture of the magnitude of the disease of alcoholism and its costly effect on the business community. Clearly, it is cost-effective for the business sector to identify alcoholism as a family disease. Using Al-Anon as a major resource can provide help for those affected by a problem drinker. 

Here's what Paul Sherman, Ph.D., an alcoholism consultant to the business community, says about it: "Having an alcoholic spouse can have a more devastating effect on the performance of an executive than if the executive himself is the alcoholic...There will be times when the performance of an alcoholic executive is not visibly impaired by the disease. The constant preoccupation about an alcoholic spouse and worry about what might be going on at home, however, will affect the executive on a continuous basis." At many companies throughout the country, Al-Anon members meet during lunch hour. At these workday meetings, members share their experience, strength and hope with each other. The affected member receives comfort and support and the employer gets a more productive employee.

These materials are adapted and reprinted with permission of Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc., Virginia Beach, VA