According to GettingThemSober.com:
46% of American households have alcoholism.
Wow, almost HALF by their count.
75-80% of helping professionals in the U.S. under the age of 55 are adult children of alcoholics and 60% of physicians (who are U.S.-born) under the age of 55 are first-born children of alcoholics.
83% of nurses are adult children of alcoholics.
This is a staggeringly high number! Helps explain the stats that follow...
The American Nurses Association states that 20% of nurses have 'substance abuse issues' with an an estimated 40,000 nurses in the U.S. experiencing alcoholism. Binge drinking was highest among oncology, emergency, and critical care nurses.
Odds of marijuana use are 3.5 times higher among emergency nurses. Pediatric and emergency nurses reported a higher use of cocaine than other specialties. Oncology nurses reported the highest overall drug use – for all substances combined.
Looks like growing up in an environment of substance abuse combined with having a genetic predisposition to it, is taking it's toll here. Nursing has traditionally been a profession known for compassion and empathy. Looks like nurses (and doctors) could use a bit of this medicine themselves.
*article here
Wow...this is making me rethink my career path.
What do you think of this? Are children of addicts more likely to take on "helping careers"? Is it an extension of co-dependence? Are we fixers for life?
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