How many of you lost your job due to alcoholism?
Member
Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 4
Thank you for this topic, I'm not alone!
Let me start saying. ...this is depressing, today will be one month I've been out of work (job less) due to the fact i had a hang over the next day which was Friday, i didnt call in nor did i show up. Why? I was scared to call in....i didn't know exactly what to say?? I have a hang over, can't come in....or i dont feel good like really on a Friday??? No kind of excuse... so i didn't show up nor call in.... My former manager said if i could have told him directly, he would understood me more. But the fact i didnt do any of that.... i feel stupid soooo stupid!!! For one... this job was a one year contract, paid 16.50 an hour, laid back it was a dream job to me and i wait it patiently for this job to open for 5 months... Damn now i lost it 
Member
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 189
2 jobs so far. Triggered by the drink. The first one I simply stopped showing up because I was just drinking all day and finally moved away to another location. The second I was drunk on the job and got dismissed on the spot. I am currently out of work for 9 months but trying to get back into work.
Grateful
Join Date: May 2013
Location: NC
Posts: 1,763
2 for me too. One was like you said Chandaaa...I just didn't show up or call. But I had been in trouble with them before for absences so I kind of knew I might be fired for calling in again anyway.
At thehe job I worked at for the longest amount of time of any I've had (10 years) I was constantly getting verbal and written warnings for my absenteeism. I got sober after working there for 8 years and the last 2 years were great, and it led me to getting an even better job!
At thehe job I worked at for the longest amount of time of any I've had (10 years) I was constantly getting verbal and written warnings for my absenteeism. I got sober after working there for 8 years and the last 2 years were great, and it led me to getting an even better job!
~sb
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: MD
Posts: 15,967
I lost my career due to not showing and sometimes not calling in (excessive absenteeism led to insubordination).....took me a long time, but in the last 5 years, I am slowly getting to where I want to be again.
You CAN rebuild your life!!!!
You CAN rebuild your life!!!!
Left the bottle behind 4/16/2015
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: NC
Posts: 1,416
Drank on a lot of jobs, but only got fired from one because of it - the last one. Got sent to rehab the first time, but the second time I wasn't so lucky. People mostly just started noticing I was gone a lot. Falling asleep at my desk was a dead giveaway.
The Long and Winding Road....
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Brisbane QLD
Posts: 897
Yeah I lost more jobs than I could think of because of my drinking
I'd either quit whilst drunk or abuse someone and get the sack
Hopefully that's a thing of the past now and when I do eventually return to work I will keep a job
Van
I'd either quit whilst drunk or abuse someone and get the sack
Hopefully that's a thing of the past now and when I do eventually return to work I will keep a job
Van
Member
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: California
Posts: 2,693
I did not lose a job due to alcoholism but I was close. I was constantly tardy. I was lucky that it was a job where I wasn't under direct supervision. There was no time clock.
I showed up to work hungover every day. My saving grace was that I never vomited. I had indescribable headaches, red face, and sweated more than any normal person ever would, but gosh darn it I was there every day. And hungover every day.
Like many others, I told myself if I ever got in trouble at work then that would be the last straw. So did I stop drinking? No. I used every fiber of strength and grit to be the best employee I could - hungover. I looked like crap. My face and eyes told the story. But I figured, hey, lots of people don't look that great. What's so unique about me?
I used the strength and grit to prove to myself that I was okay - to continue drinking. If someone had said "You can keep drinking as soon as you climb Mt. Everest," I'd be training the next day. I wish I was joking.
About once a month I would forget to set my alarm. I was very lucky that I would always wake up around 4 to 5 AM dying of thirst and set my alarm then. I never slept through the whole night when I was drinking.
My attendance was 100% but I would challenge anyone here to go to work with the type of hangovers I worked through. (I'm being silly. We've all been there.) I went to work with 10 out of 10 hangovers, not sure if I could concentrate long enough to complete a sentence.
The problem was the hangovers (which I would later realize were alcohol withdrawal) were getting worse and worse.
One morning sticks out to me in particular. I remember it like it was yesterday. It was April 2014. I woke up hungover (like every day), dressed, and went to work. Soon after arriving at my desk I began sweating a cold sweat with chills. I was checking my emails and felt the sudden urgent need to get up and pace around the room. My heart was beating rapidly and I felt like I was only taking 3/4 breaths. It was quite alarming. This particular feeling was new to me. I remember that even reading through an email made me feel like I was having a panic attack. My eyes are brain were not synchronizing like they should have. The intensity of this episode lasted maybe 15 minutes before I calmed down. How I got through the rest of the day, I'll never know.
What did I do that night? Well, what all alcoholics do. I drank heavily. Like I always did. I drank nightly for another two months before I quit. The panic episode I described happened several more times in the next two months.
One other particularly jarring episode was passing out drunk and forgetting to set my alarm. You know that feeling when you wake up and wonder Why is the sun so bright at 6:30 AM? And why is the breeze coming through the window warm? Then you jump out of bed like you've been electrocuted? I was very late that day and wanted to die of shame. I cried on the way to work just devastated with shame and guilt.
What did I do that night? Well, what every alcoholic does. I drank.
I've been sober for two years and I'm happy to report that I haven't been late once. And even if I was, it would be "normal healthy person late" like I wouldn't feel terrible. Nobody would get mad at me. I'm sober and responsible now.
I showed up to work hungover every day. My saving grace was that I never vomited. I had indescribable headaches, red face, and sweated more than any normal person ever would, but gosh darn it I was there every day. And hungover every day.
Like many others, I told myself if I ever got in trouble at work then that would be the last straw. So did I stop drinking? No. I used every fiber of strength and grit to be the best employee I could - hungover. I looked like crap. My face and eyes told the story. But I figured, hey, lots of people don't look that great. What's so unique about me?
I used the strength and grit to prove to myself that I was okay - to continue drinking. If someone had said "You can keep drinking as soon as you climb Mt. Everest," I'd be training the next day. I wish I was joking.
About once a month I would forget to set my alarm. I was very lucky that I would always wake up around 4 to 5 AM dying of thirst and set my alarm then. I never slept through the whole night when I was drinking.
My attendance was 100% but I would challenge anyone here to go to work with the type of hangovers I worked through. (I'm being silly. We've all been there.) I went to work with 10 out of 10 hangovers, not sure if I could concentrate long enough to complete a sentence.
The problem was the hangovers (which I would later realize were alcohol withdrawal) were getting worse and worse.
One morning sticks out to me in particular. I remember it like it was yesterday. It was April 2014. I woke up hungover (like every day), dressed, and went to work. Soon after arriving at my desk I began sweating a cold sweat with chills. I was checking my emails and felt the sudden urgent need to get up and pace around the room. My heart was beating rapidly and I felt like I was only taking 3/4 breaths. It was quite alarming. This particular feeling was new to me. I remember that even reading through an email made me feel like I was having a panic attack. My eyes are brain were not synchronizing like they should have. The intensity of this episode lasted maybe 15 minutes before I calmed down. How I got through the rest of the day, I'll never know.
What did I do that night? Well, what all alcoholics do. I drank heavily. Like I always did. I drank nightly for another two months before I quit. The panic episode I described happened several more times in the next two months.
One other particularly jarring episode was passing out drunk and forgetting to set my alarm. You know that feeling when you wake up and wonder Why is the sun so bright at 6:30 AM? And why is the breeze coming through the window warm? Then you jump out of bed like you've been electrocuted? I was very late that day and wanted to die of shame. I cried on the way to work just devastated with shame and guilt.
What did I do that night? Well, what every alcoholic does. I drank.
I've been sober for two years and I'm happy to report that I haven't been late once. And even if I was, it would be "normal healthy person late" like I wouldn't feel terrible. Nobody would get mad at me. I'm sober and responsible now.
Member
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: UK
Posts: 6,902
I've never directly been fired, but def contracts not been renewed and first in line when redundancies were made. I was a difficult employee. Although I never went in drunk (that I'm aware of) I did turn up with killer hangovers which must have affected my performance and made me churlish and defensive. I must have stunk of stale alcohol many mornings.
I tended to know when I had started to push things too far. Then I manipulated situations or developed arguments and misunderstandings and justified walking out to myself that way. When I was a teen I lost a fair few low paid casual jobs thinking that they were 'beneath' me, going to a bar at lunch break and staying there instead of going back to work. I once waved a knife at a co-worker as well. I wouldn't have hurt her, but I'd built up some fairly alcoholic resentments against her, and she made me mad and I, of course, reacted in a way that was completely out of order. I handed in my notice, giving very much MY version of events, and made sure I was out of there before she gave hers.
So, no direct sackings, but plenty of opportunities that I threw away because of my alcoholic drinking or my alcoholic thinking. I needed to address both of these. The first through sobriety. The second through recovery.
The bad news is, as you can see, alcoholism and job progression kind of work against each other.
The good news is that you can make the decision to stop drinking and start recovering any time you choose. And we'll all be here waiting to help you do just that when you have had enough of alcohol making your life unmanageable.
I tended to know when I had started to push things too far. Then I manipulated situations or developed arguments and misunderstandings and justified walking out to myself that way. When I was a teen I lost a fair few low paid casual jobs thinking that they were 'beneath' me, going to a bar at lunch break and staying there instead of going back to work. I once waved a knife at a co-worker as well. I wouldn't have hurt her, but I'd built up some fairly alcoholic resentments against her, and she made me mad and I, of course, reacted in a way that was completely out of order. I handed in my notice, giving very much MY version of events, and made sure I was out of there before she gave hers.
So, no direct sackings, but plenty of opportunities that I threw away because of my alcoholic drinking or my alcoholic thinking. I needed to address both of these. The first through sobriety. The second through recovery.
The bad news is, as you can see, alcoholism and job progression kind of work against each other.
The good news is that you can make the decision to stop drinking and start recovering any time you choose. And we'll all be here waiting to help you do just that when you have had enough of alcohol making your life unmanageable.
Member
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Watford
Posts: 83
Several times my work/career has suffered badly.
About 20 years ago I was a super techie, being paid £200 a day as a long-term consultant to solve difficult I.T. problems for a major International company in London.... Until the last Christmas party when I got drunk and called the CFO some nasty names, before throwing up on his wife.
Fast forward a few years, and I had created a successful freelance business, working remotely for clients all around the world. Things were going so well, I started employing extra help. I ended up with 36 full-time employees. The company was set to turn over more than $2,000,000 in its second year. I decided to employ a general manager to run things in the background, so I could get some free time.... I used that free time to start drinking heavily again.... 6 months later the company was gone.
I went back to freelancing alone again, and after a couple of years, a client in Zurich offered me a full-time job as Head of Content Marketing paying $12,000 a month plus a free apartment. Problem was, that free apartment was above a local bar.... I managed a year before they asked me to leave.
Went back to freelancing again, rebuilt a nice little client base, and then got in to one of my serious drinking phases.... slowly leaking clients.... this is where I am now.
For me, alcohol has often been a release from the stress of work. But it can also be the cause of some of that stress. When it gets to that stage, well you are on a downward spiral.
About 20 years ago I was a super techie, being paid £200 a day as a long-term consultant to solve difficult I.T. problems for a major International company in London.... Until the last Christmas party when I got drunk and called the CFO some nasty names, before throwing up on his wife.
Fast forward a few years, and I had created a successful freelance business, working remotely for clients all around the world. Things were going so well, I started employing extra help. I ended up with 36 full-time employees. The company was set to turn over more than $2,000,000 in its second year. I decided to employ a general manager to run things in the background, so I could get some free time.... I used that free time to start drinking heavily again.... 6 months later the company was gone.
I went back to freelancing alone again, and after a couple of years, a client in Zurich offered me a full-time job as Head of Content Marketing paying $12,000 a month plus a free apartment. Problem was, that free apartment was above a local bar.... I managed a year before they asked me to leave.
Went back to freelancing again, rebuilt a nice little client base, and then got in to one of my serious drinking phases.... slowly leaking clients.... this is where I am now.
For me, alcohol has often been a release from the stress of work. But it can also be the cause of some of that stress. When it gets to that stage, well you are on a downward spiral.
Member
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 341
I used to work in law enforcement and convinced myself the job was so stressful that I had to drink in my car on my lunch break in the parking lot.
I had to reek of alcohol on 100 degree days. Otherwise, I was calling off every day or in the ER since I was abusing benzos when I couldn't drink in front of my coworkers to control withdrawal.
They found an old summary offense on my record from 10 years ago they used to fire me although a background check had been done when I was hired.
I had to reek of alcohol on 100 degree days. Otherwise, I was calling off every day or in the ER since I was abusing benzos when I couldn't drink in front of my coworkers to control withdrawal.
They found an old summary offense on my record from 10 years ago they used to fire me although a background check had been done when I was hired.
Member
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: illinois
Posts: 907
Crippling headaches. Panic attacks. Racing heart.
what's a nurse to do? -Medicate that stuff!
Yeah, bad move...
But, I'm pretty sure that if I hadn't been busted doing that, I would be much closer to my grave now if not in it. Took me awhile to appreciate the blessing.
what's a nurse to do? -Medicate that stuff!
Yeah, bad move...
But, I'm pretty sure that if I hadn't been busted doing that, I would be much closer to my grave now if not in it. Took me awhile to appreciate the blessing.
Member
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Somewhere in California
Posts: 1,136
I never lost any job due to drinking, but I worked constantly hungover ( to varying degrees, but always hungover), so my productivity was not there. Feeling like death, unproductive, depressed. I'm a better employee now because I'm more at ease than when I was when drinking, so I'm better at processing things/ dealing with conflict/ not letting things bother me, etc. If this was the only benefit from not drinking I'd consider that worth it. As it happens, sobriety brings with it many wonderful things- a lot of them unexpected.
I do remember one incident that happened 16 years ago at a temporary summer job I had. I was in my early 20's an had been drinking for about two or three years at that point. The shift was over, but we had a staff meeting an hour after work ended. I decided to go to a nearby bar and have a few post work cocktails. Bad idea. I drank several beers and at least one drink of hard liquor within an hour. In the meeting I was argumentative with the manager about a fairly minor matter. I wasn't fired, but if it had been a different job, it probably would have happened. I recall that after that meeting, my relationship with my coworkers wasn't the same again. Luckily, I got a full time job within a month of the incident and moved on. I still look back at the incident and cringe.
Nothing like that has happened since. I never drank on the job, thankfully. But the toxic cloud of negative effects hung over me ( no pun intended) the whole time I was a drinker.
I do remember one incident that happened 16 years ago at a temporary summer job I had. I was in my early 20's an had been drinking for about two or three years at that point. The shift was over, but we had a staff meeting an hour after work ended. I decided to go to a nearby bar and have a few post work cocktails. Bad idea. I drank several beers and at least one drink of hard liquor within an hour. In the meeting I was argumentative with the manager about a fairly minor matter. I wasn't fired, but if it had been a different job, it probably would have happened. I recall that after that meeting, my relationship with my coworkers wasn't the same again. Luckily, I got a full time job within a month of the incident and moved on. I still look back at the incident and cringe.
Nothing like that has happened since. I never drank on the job, thankfully. But the toxic cloud of negative effects hung over me ( no pun intended) the whole time I was a drinker.
Member
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 1,183
No, but I came close. Excessive absenteeism (like just about every single Monday, always without any advance notice, I'd just call in "sick"), poor work quality, smelling like alcohol. I was puffy-faced, sweating like a pig, sometimes unsteady on my feet, sometimes I was still drunk from the night before, but I never got caught being actively drunk at work (which would have been grounds to fire me immediately). I was marched to meet with a counselor in the EAP, and eventually forced into a treatment program, which ultimately saved my life and career. I was lucky.
Member
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: MN
Posts: 8,704
"You can keep drinking as soon as you climb Mt. Everest," I'd be training the next day. I wish I was joking.
That's one of the best quotes I've read on this site and I was the exact same way. Thank you melindaflowers.
That's one of the best quotes I've read on this site and I was the exact same way. Thank you melindaflowers.
Member
Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 4
Originally Posted by 2012Starlight 
2 jobs so far. Triggered by the drink. The first one I simply stopped showing up because I was just drinking all day and finally moved away to another location. The second I was drunk on the job and got dismissed on the spot. I am currently out of work for 9 months but trying to get back into work.
Member
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Oak Creek, WI
Posts: 517
Never directly fired from my job for drinking, but the last three jobs I have had my performance was definitely lacking due to being hung over. Calling in sick because I just couldn't make it in to work.
The last job I had I resigned because I was afraid I was going to get fired. Not proud of that by any means, and I have been unemployed now for several months, but it has been a blessing in disguise. It allowed me to get sober for good and really work on getting that self confidence I lost from drinking.
The last job I had I resigned because I was afraid I was going to get fired. Not proud of that by any means, and I have been unemployed now for several months, but it has been a blessing in disguise. It allowed me to get sober for good and really work on getting that self confidence I lost from drinking.
Currently Active Users Viewing this Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
