Overdose Blue Collar Blues

Blue Collar Blues

Written by and for people with Lived Experience - Port Alberni Community Action Team - Families Helping Families

Today’s Learning Moment – 11 23 20 Issue: Overdose Blue Collar Blues

This article is a companion piece to the regretful and despairing story told in last week’s 11 16 20 Learning Moment Issue: I’m A big, Tough Man – I Won’t Die.  That story discussed the end of a life journey for John, a composite character representing real stories of many men over the last 6 months in BC. John, who is the main character is a working man with a family, home, a job and a seemingly ideal life.  The story tells how John began to use stimulants as a way to cope and function with day to day work.  It highlighted the perceived immortality and “not me” attitude that many men have about substance use and overdose.  John’s story ends tragically not only for John but also for the many people who love him.  Today’s article is meant to help raise awareness on the reality of men in the workforce and the unhealthy ways in which many men choose to cope and function day-to-day.
In a world that commands us, demands from us, that we work as hard as we can, men often feel pressured to function sometimes beyond their means in the workplace. There are deadlines and commitments. There is micromanagement, bullying and often a culture of “man up” activities that have contributed to unhealthy coping tools.  Often under the threat of losing a job or at least being banished from the mainstream of the working culture that exists in the workplace.  Of the unhealthiest coping tools that I have heard about and dealt with in my practice with mental health and substance use is the substance use culture.

I have had countless men come in for counselling for substance use issues.  They come from construction, labour, big oil, IT, health, big and small business, entertainment, you name it.  They come in because their substance use has usually harmed their lives in some way.  They come in because someone in their lives has usually been affected by their substance use somehow.  Maybe told or referred by their employers, maybe from an angry family member or friend.  Regardless, they reach out because if they continue to use substances the way they do, they will lose everything.

Of course, way too many men have come in after losing everything.  Usually because, from their point of view, they thought it would never happen to them, that they would never be an addict or an alcoholic.  They believed they would never lose control or succumb to what we now know is a mental health disorder.  They never believed they would be “one of those people”.  Such is the social impact of stigma within the sometimes toxic culture of too many workplaces.  In the last five years, men have been the most likely people to lose their lives to “accidental” or “unintentional” overdose.

According to the BC Coroners report, men aged 30-59 years of age accounted for 80% of overdose deaths in BC this year.  Think about that.  Prime working age.  These overdoses overwhelming occurred in private residences.  Men represented the majority of those admitted to hospital after an overdose.  Of all overdose deaths, 55% were employed in trades and transport, 21% in sales and services.  Many other employment areas are listed in the report.

As I have said, I have heard stories from many men in my career.  Those stories were replete with instances of after-work gatherings consisting of Friday night beers with the boys to full weekends of never-ending parties.  The guys have told me that they got to the point where they could no longer function at work without a wake and bake (waking up to a joint in the morning), and then needing more at lunch and then drinking and using at night.  In the last few years, pain killers and stimulants have played a major role in becoming part of an unhealthy coping pattern for guys.  I have met guys that have to “wake and bake” with a hit of opiates of some sort so that they won’t experience debilitating withdrawal symptoms at work.  As we know now, overdose deaths exceed covid deaths and are ranked among the highest causes of death in Canada.

Based on the stories that I have been told, anecdotes from guys who are or have been in the workforce in general, I see the trend of substance use in the workplace culture.  And based on those stories, I am not surprised that the majority of men who die from overdose are in the trades or transport sectors.

Family Men at Work

There seems to be some sort of toxic masculinity that occurs within this culture that dictates that being a male means to partake of high-risk behaviour such as taking drugs, particularly when doing so might and most likely will be fatal now.  There is a culture of “man up”, men are supposed to take the pain, “suck it up”, don’t show emotion unless it is aggressive and “we don’t talk”, we don’t reveal any vulnerability.

Remember that I have been told these stories while in a position of trust anonymity and confidence.  These guys have nothing to hide from me as I am bound not to reveal anyone’s identity, ever.  So I trust the stories.

My point here is that men are, too often, living in a toxic subculture.  Drinking and using is a great way to feel better and loosen up.  We learn that it can also become a relaxing way to cope and then to function.  And all the while, we don’t see it as a problem.  Much of the reason for that many men are programmed, in their workplace, to not see the problem at all.

We can see this phenomenon in the story of John.  He likely truly did not see the issue.  No doubt there were factors in his workplace that led him to feel he needed help to get through his day to day activities.  That developed into the problem that he was programmed not to see or accept due to social and workplace stigma as well as a lack of general knowledge of the risks of substance use.  “It won’t happen to me”  It might happen to a junkie or a bum (sorry for the negative terms) but not to me.  The proof is in the numbers.  It happens to anybody who is not prepared.  It certainly happens too often in a working culture that is meant to keep our society healthy and prosperous but instead is now a leading factor in overdose deaths.

Now, factor in the loss of work due to covid and we have the perfect storm..

https://americanaddictioncenters.org/rehab-guide/workforce/blue-collar-workers

https://americanaddictioncenters.org/major-statistics-surrounding-white-collar-substance-abuse

https://www.ccsa.ca/canadian-drug-trends

https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/health-concerns/drug-prevention-treatment/drug-alcohol-use-statistics/canadian-alcohol-drug-use-monitoring-survey-summary-results-tables-2012.html#t1

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/birth-adoption-death-marriage-and-divorce/deaths/coroners-service/statistical/illicit-drug.pdf

Use Lifeguard – protect yourself and the people you love.
Lifeguard App Link:

https://lifeguarddh.com/

Be Safe App – Companion App to Lifeguard

https://besafeapp.ca/

All our past articles can be found here: https://ptalbcat.blogspot.com/
The link to this specific article is: https://ptalbcat.blogspot.com/2020/11/overdose-blue-collar-blues.html  SHARING is best done by copying and pasting this link everywhere you want:

Author: Ben Goerner
Ben is a retired counsellor. He advocates for people suffering from mental health and substance illness.

Families Helping Families is an initiative of the Port Alberni Community Action Team. We send out “Learning Moment” articles regularly to help folks understand substance illness. Knowledge is vital in understanding the illness of our family members. You may copy, distribute or share our articles as long as you retain the attribution. You can be added to our distribution list by dropping us a note to - albernihelp@gmail.com