Why Hard Workers Are More Likely to Become Booze-Hounds
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When I was a much younger man I worked hard, very hard, all hours of the day and night. I was a cop, and you can’t just close up shop and go home for the day if you’re working on a big case. There was one thing we all of us in blue looked forward to, though, and that was when the day or week finally ended we could all go out to grab a beer, or two or three at our favorite hangout. I noticed that the harder and more gruesome the case, the more we drank. Now there’s some evidence of the why behind it all.
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From Slate.com:
Science has finally confirmed what anybody who has ever met an i-banker, lawyer, or journalist already knew: People who work exhaustingly long hours like to drink themselves insensate at the end of the week.
To be specific, an analysis published in the British Medical Journal found that working more than 48 hours a week was associated with a slightly higher probability of “risky” alcohol consumption. The authors reached their main conclusions by analyzing unpublished data from 27 studies conducted in the United States, Europe, and Australia. They also looked at the findings of 36 previously released papers, many of which were also from Japan—where after-work binge drinking is basically a cherished part of its office culture.
What, precisely, is “risky” drinking? The paper’s definition varied a bit depending on the exact data source. But in many cases, for a woman, it meant consuming more than 14 alcoholic beverages a week. For a man, it meant more than 21. In other words, it was defined as “the level of alcohol consumption at which there might be an increased risk of adverse health consequences, such as liver diseases, cancer, coronary heart disease, stroke, mental disorders, and injuries, as well as considerable social costs because of family disruption, violence, traffic incidents, healthcare costs, reduced work productivity, and permanent exclusion from the labour market.”
So, we’re not talking about, “Oooohhhhhhhh man, I got so wasted after work last Friday, ha ha” heavy drinking. It’s more like, “Ooohhhhhhhh, man, my doctor keeps warning me about cirrhosis” heavy drinking.
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Mike, I think you can identify with this even since you have joined the academic world. Most everyone thinks from the time I entered that academics have a cushy job, and in one respect I guess we do, but I started my post graduate work and actually teaching and had to think about the impact of publishing, administrative committee work, student advising endless meetings to attend about curricular changes, and various deadlines to meet concurrent with all of the above the number of actual work I out in doubled at a minimum. Throw into that mix the consulting firm that I started after receiving my PhD and the is another 12 – 20 hours a week. Yep, I was making more money but the stressed increased exponentially. Do not misunderstand me, I would not change my life, I love my work, all of it. There are some who spend their lives in academe doing the bare minimum and it is a it nice life style. Just not me and most of my colleagues. First let me point out that most people in academics do not make a ton of money. There are those in the hard sciences, engineering, and business that do very well. But the bulk of any universities faculty and not made up of those , they are made up of the social sciences and service courses. There is not much call these days for people with degrees in English, Philosophy, Sociology, Women’s Studies, Art History and the like these days. People receiving undergraduate degrees in Psychology, criminal Justice, history, and political science and not going out into the world and making tons of money either. So the faculty teaching in those fields are paid much less than their business counter parts. But there is one thing they all have in common, it is rare when their brains ever totally shut off from their work mode. In my field of criminal Justice there is always something happening that effects my field either in the classroom, in my research, or in my consulting work. So my work mind stays tuned in virtually the entire time I am awake. I jot down notes while watching TV, as soon as possible after I observe something that will be useful in one of my classes. It has become second nature to me now but some time I stop and think, when do I ever shut down my work computer inside my head. The answer is never. There was a where Johnny Walker and I became a bit too chummy and I had to get a handle on it or I would not be sitting here now. It is an easy trap to fall into. So all of out are chargers out there take heed. Stop once in a great while and smell the flowers without the working brain in your computer in your brain before it is too late.
What you say is true Bill. And, like you, I had to get a handle on Johnny. I found myself dancing with him far more often that was healthy.
I have never worked hard in my life simply because I am a lazy sod. I drink copious amounts of beer and, up until a couple of years ago downed an oceans worth of vodka a year.
There you go. One theory up in smoke 😉