Help Seeking for AOD Misuse Among Social Workers: Patterns, Barriers, And Implications (Alcohol and Other Drugs‪)‬

Misuse of alcohol and other drugs (AODs) is a public health issue, at great personal cost to individuals and their families and at great financial cost to businesses and the general public. In 2001, 7.3 percent of the U.S. population (ages 12 and over) met the criteria for abuse or dependence on either illicit drugs or alcohol (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration [SAMHSA], 2002). Helping professionals are not immune to AOD misuse, and the potential for harm extends beyond personal consequences to compromised patient care. The prevalence rates of drug and alcohol misuse among helping professionals are not well established, because the few population-based studies of helping professionals provide competing estimates of prevalence (Hughes et al., 1992; McAuliffe et al., 1991; Trinkoff & Storr, 1998). Although most studies found that alcohol misuse among helping professionals is at least as common as it is in the general population, there is little agreement about the prevalence of drug misuse, particularly prescription drug misuse (Dabney & Hollinger, 1999; Hughes et al., 1992); (Trinkoff, Eaton, & Anthony, 1994; Trinkoff, Storr, Wall, 1999).