Greeny

I am sober 37 days. I needed to take a leave of absence from my job to focus on getting sober. I am going to an Intensive Outpatient Treatment program and daily AA meetings. Thank G-d I have this opportunity to get sober. I am willing to do whatever it takes to stay sober today.

Now to the question. I am contemplating my return to work. I am close to some of my colleagues and will likely take a risk and be open with them about my illness. Then there are many others who will express concern about my absence, with whom I do not feel comfortable divulging the details. Telling them to **** off or more politely declining to give them the exact nature of my illness might produce the same result- these people who might feel closer to me than I do to them and might just the same feel slighted or insulted.

I am open to suggestions on how to soberly handle this situation. Thanks!

Xune

My wife and two Doctos know.

That is how it is going to stay.

Wastinglife

I don't think you should tell anyone at work of the nature of your illness. You may think you can trust certain people, but it's not worth taking the risk. Workplaces are terrible rumor-mills and things always get out.

Fandy

I agree , keep your personal life out of work, i know you want to be honest, but this can turn on you.
You can just say you have been ill.
The job market is hard enough these days, proclaiming you are being treated for alcoholism can stack the deck against you later.

MsJax

No matter how good and safe you may feel with someone in your workplace, if you tell them about our alcoholism they are going to blab. You don't need that! Congratulations on getting treatment & changing your life .

flutter

If you feel you have to say something, I personally might say "I had to take care of some personal issues". Hopefully the word PERSONAL squashes any nosy questions afterwards.

BruceJ

We all have different situations. I take a very different approach. I'm sorta self-employed so I don't have coworkers to worry about but....

If someone wanted to know where I've been, and they probably would, I would politely explain that my drinking was getting a little out-of-control so I felt that I needed to do something about it, and am feeling much better now. And thank them for asking.
If they persist, you can explain it as an illness if you want but say something to the effect of, "I also have had to seek treatment for hemmorhoids, would you like to discuss that?" In other words, downplay it. Use a little humor and don't take it so seriously.

Just my perspective. All the best.

RevivingOphelia

I took some leave last year. You don't need to say anything. I just needed some time. You can add personal in there as flutter suggested. I would not go there with the A-word.

The end.

FeelingGreat

I wouldn't give the real reason myself, because things can get distorted over time. I would go with having to sort out some 'personal family issues'. That takes the focus off you, and personal can imply private.

mecanix

I tend to say i had some health issues which meant i had to stop drinking and add in a non-commital way "my poor old liver is on the mend now " and let them draw their own conclusions from that ..

Bestwishes, M

DuhDave

I'am with FeelingGreat on this one. Some personal Family issues that took longer to resolve than You had anticipated...enough said,

Mecanix...Respectfully, I believe that would tend to open the floodgate of the "Water cooler" rumors around the job that ALWAYS gets blown out of proportion as well as actual context.

No one needs to hear anything about the "A" word on the job. This is not pride you're trying to protect it is your LIVELYHOOD !

Hollyanne

I would not give the reason to anyone at work.
I would not share even with "friends" at work.
Been there, done that.
One experience was that someone who was aware of my issue, became my boss.
She just could not help herself. She used this information to judge me and in how she treated me.
Also, gossips can't help themselves. No personal cost to them if they "share" your story.
Never again.
The very best of luck to you in your recovery.

Sorry, forgot to answer your original question, I would say, doctor recommended rest, or family business, or, back, neck, pain or something less salacious than addiction.

oakwood

I agree with other posters here. Personally, I would not tell anyone at work, no matter how much I trusted them. The chance that they will blab is just too great and this could easily be used against you, if not now, then later.

Please think about your plan for this a bit more.

choublak

No matter how "close" you are (or think you are) to these co-workers, they are still co-workers.

Brian1

I agree on the fact that it is best to not mix your personal life with work life. But, that's much easier said than done as a few of my coworkers have also been involved in my personal life and word spreads. It also doesn't help when your name is in the paper after a DUI and your entire workplace knows

I do hate those loud mouths though that talk about your life in front of you as if you're not even there.

Huglets

I agree with all those who say keep your private and work lives separate. Nothing really needs to be said when you return. Companies offer leaves of absence for a reason and it's not to announce to your boss and co-workers why you were out of the office.

I first sought treatment for alcoholism 2 years ago. I did tell my boss and a few close work friends. I'm now on another leave of absence to deal with a relapse. Because my company knows I was an alcoholic and have now relapsed they are looking for a way to get rid of me. They also put me on probation in October when I started missing quite a bit of time because of my drinking. I'm convinced that they were suspicious I went back to drinking and were taking a pre-emptive strike to terminate me.

I don't believe they can fire me while on leave, but I have no doubt I'll be fired shortly after my return. I can't tell you how much I regret that they even know, but I'm the one who let that cat out of the bag. Simply put, I'm nothing but a liability and a risk to keep at work. I would never take such an approach with a future company.

Dee74

I wasn't working in an office when I quit, so I have no advice Greeny.
Some people like full disclosure, others don't...it's up to the individual I think.

Think about it carefully tho - after you open the lid, you won't get that genie back into the bottle.

D

Virg

I personally wouldn't tell anyone. If I absolutely needed to say something, I would just say like "I had some personal issues I had to work through that I don't want to discuss. But everything is better now." But that is just me. Only you can decide what is right.

Threshold

I told mine that I have a chronic illness that flared up and I needed to take treatments for it. If they asked what it was, I told them I wasn't comfortable talking about it.

I accepted their concern and well wishes with grace and thank yous. No one pressed for more information.

Anna

I would never, ever tell my co-workers about my alcoholism. Work is work and my recovery is an extremely personal journey.