Alcohol, drugs and motivation

I chose motivation in the title because motivation is usually affected by alcohol and other drug dependence — however, I’m writing here about how drug abuse and dependence affects a person’s ability to learn and retain knowledge and how it all relates to developing and maintaining a good livelihood. This is aimed primarily at young people, but it applies to everyone with an alcohol or other drug problem. It’s never too late to change, and if alcohol or some other drug holds a person back or has prevented them from ever achieving their goals over a scan of decades, then now is the time to act — time might be running out — the world is quickly changing and it takes all the intelligence we can muster.

This is definitely not a time to dumb down with alcohol or pot or get lost in a fantasy world of any types of mood-altering drugs – not if a person wants to meet the technological challenges of the new workforce. Keep in mind that moderate drinking, one or two drinks a day, doesn’t have the same negative impact — I’m writing about drinking and drug use that’s beyond moderate. I’m not calling for prohibition, just a realistic look at how an alcohol or other drug problem can negatively impact a person’s ability to make a decent living in an advanced technological society.

Most therapists are trained to help clients with their emotional and mental difficulties. In addiction treatment, when performing the assessments, there’s a category for employment, but it’s not often highlighted in treatment unless the person was sent by the employer and their job is in jeopardy. Most clients are worried about keeping the job they have or finding a new one, but I’m not sure if enough attention is paid to alcohol and drug use and 21st century technological advancements as they relate to stable, good-paying employment.

There are more and more demands on young people entering the workforce related to specialized knowledge, especially specialized technological knowledge. How does alcohol use affect memory, ability to lean and motivation? How does marijuana affect the ability to focus, to remember and retain knowledge? How do opiates stop young people in their tracks before they gain the knowledge and skills they need to make it in a highly technological workforce?

Again, it’s not just a concern for young people, because, now, workers in their 40s and 50s have to gain new knowledge and skills to make it in today’s workforce. If these workers in their 40s or 50s are dependent on alcohol, or they’re still smoking pot or using cocaine, how will they fair in this demanding technological transition? I couldn’t find any studies specifically dealing with this problem, but it’s well known how different drugs like alcohol, marijuana and opiates negatively impact motivation, learning and memory.

When I was 19 years old working on the assembly line at GM, there were older workers all around me working by rote who drank on the job, but the job was not that demanding. Those types of jobs are disappearing. 21st century jobs will demand a clear head and the ability to retain and handle lots of information. Alcohol and other drugs work against the demands placed on workers in today’s workforce. Even the executives’ two martini lunches are a thing of the past. Many workers dependent on brain altering drugs will likely be left in the dust as technological changes increase each year. This has to be a treatment concern — one more reason to deal with an alcohol or other drug problem before it’s too late. This is not a scare tactic — it’s reality.