What Parents Should Know About Teen Alcohol Abuse

This is the season of graduations, proms, and parties. And with this season comes the added responsibility of parents to ensure that their children understand the risks of alcohol abuse. The following video discusses the risks of substance abuse and how to discover whether your teen has a drinking problem. To learn how to keep your child healthy, please view this informative video.

Do You Eat When Under Stress?

Did you ever have to attend a big meeting that you didn't want to go to, but you had to do it anyway? You may have had no choice but to attend the meeting, so you wanted to calm your nerves. Almost without thinking, you grabbed a piece of chocolate from your desk, popped it in your mouth and headed off to the meeting. Many people are in the same situation as you, using foods to lessen the feeling of stress felt every day.

Men, women and children alike are constantly eating as an unconscious method of relieving stress. If you are under a lot of pressure and you find that you are reaching for the goodies, the chips, or snack foods, you are almost certainly gaining weight. Unfortunately, that is when medical problems associated with weight-gain begin.

Who is at risk for overeating due to stress related incidents? Almost everybody. One type of industry that is prone to this type of stress reaction is truck driving. The truck driver is constantly on the go, on the road, fighting traffic and deadlines, among other things. The truck driver who is under stress will eat to stay awake and will eat to calm his or her nerves. Many truck drivers find they are quickly overweight and need to lessen the stress in their lives so they will eat less.

Depending on food for comfort is nothing new. New mothers, and those who care for children often times find themselves under a lot of stress. If you find you grab a piece of candy every time someone is fighting or when you know that your child is coming in to ask a question, you are not solving your stress problem. Your over-eating is a form of compensation and is covering up how you really feel about a situation.

Solve your problems and face your stress
Stress can be easier to overcome if you identify what is stressful in your life. Are you doing too much at your job? Are you finding it hard to find work? Do you want to get your house cleaned up but your children won’t help? The stress in your life can always be changed. The stress in your life doesn’t mean you are stuck in this rut. You can change your feelings of stress by leaving those problems behind and changing what you do and how you do it. Keep yourself busy, fight off those urges to help everyone do every thing, and lessen the stress in your life. Learn to streamline and set priorities. And if you need help in establishing a more peaceful routine to combat stress and the tendency to overeat, then seek out help from your employee assistance program today.

Dealing With Drugs and Alcohol in the Workplace

Substance abuse is a huge, worldwide problem. In the United States alone there are over 50 million binge drinkers, 17 million illegal drug users and almost 15 million people who abuse prescription medications. Most substance abusers have jobs. In fact, it is estimated that one out of every ten workers has a substance abuse problem. An employee with an alcohol or drug problem can decrease productivity, create a hostile work environment and damage a company's good name. Worst of all, the actions of a worker who is "under the influence" can completely undermine a company's efforts to keep people safe. To learn more about the ravages of substance abuse in the workplace, please watch this short video clip.

Contact LifePlan EAP to learn more about how employee assistance programs can contribute to maintaining a drug-free workplace.

Stress Management and Sleep

Sleep is critical for proper stress management. Watch this short clip by Diana Schwarzbein, M.D. to learn more about how to improve sleep

Domestic Violence in the Workplace

Q. I have an employee who periodically comes to work with bruises on her arms, and sometimes her neck. I suspect domestic abuse of some sort, but I don’t want to invade her privacy. How can I approach this situation, and better yet, convince her to go to the EAP?

A. Your observations about the condition of your employee are a key reason for the increased attention being given nationally to domestic abuse and its effect on workplace productivity. Employers are in a unique position to help, especially when an EAP is available. You can see the bruises so it is appropriate to let her know what you have observed. Saying that you “notice the bruises,” and “are concerned that someone may be hurting you”, is prudent and appropriate. Do not push her to disclose more personal information about the origin of the bruises, but realize that your statements may elicit such information. Encouraging her to use the EAP is the next step. If there are performance issues that result from the abuse, such as reduced productivity or excessive absences, focus on the performance problems in an empathetic and caring manner, and make a supervisor referral to the EAP.

For more supervisory helps and training handouts, please go to the Frontline Supervisor page at LifePlan EAP.

Are You Aware Of Your Stress?

Stress is a natural mental and emotional reaction to demands placed upon us. These demands may be challenges we have chosen ourselves, such as getting married or having a baby. They may also be challenges imposed upon us, such as changes in work schedules or duties, a baby sitter who gets sick and can’t watch your children, or a car breaking down. Whether we’ve chosen the changes or they’ve chosen us, a reaction is normal. How we react, however, has a major impact on our long-term health and happiness.

Stress can be positive, negative, or both. It can motivate us to excel on a project or cause us severe anxiety and medical problems. Identifying stressors, managing them effectively, and being proactive to change are the keys to balancing stress.

Here are some common symptoms of stress:

• headaches
• low energy
• insomnia,
• irritability
• memory loss
• frequent illness
• low productivity
• appetite change
• poor time management

Identifying your specific responses to stressful situations is the first step in becoming aware of your stress level. Does your heart pound when a stressful situation occurs? Do you eat more/less? At night, does your mind race with thoughts of the day and prevent you from sleeping? Once you’ve identified your symptoms, you can build a plan to combat your stress.

The ideal way to keep your stress in check is to ward off the symptoms on a daily basis. Some general “stress busters” to accomplish this are:

• eat balanced meals
• exercise
• drink plenty of water,
• play with children, relax
• avoid alcohol or drugs
• solve problems
• express feelings
• do something just for you.

As you become more skilled at identifying your specific reactions to stress, you can add stress buster activities to meet your needs. For example, let’s say one of your symptoms is insomnia at night because your thoughts are racing. You can combat this symptom by telling someone your thoughts or writing them down. By “dumping” your thoughts, you can clear your mind to go to sleep.

For more helpful stress management tips, check out our website page at the Counselor's Corner at LifePlan EAP.

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