Wellness & Well-being Highlights November 18
Wellness & Well-being Highlights
for the
Week of Nov 18, 2024
This week’s edition of our Worker Wellness & Well-being blog looks at how some of the lowest paid (but very much frontline) healthcare workers are dealing with PTSD following COVID—to the importance of utilizing peers to support employees in your workplace—to how owners of gold mines in South America and South Africa are contending with illegal workers and crime gangs. This week I would like to take this opportunity to take a closer look at addiction(s).
Far too often, in our culture, when we hear the word addiction many of our minds immediately run towards issues like (hard) drugs (i.e., opioids, cocaine, etc.). Let’s face it, most of us at one time or another have ignored the impact of other addictions that cripple our society because they are deemed “legal”. For instance, alcohol and gambling. With regards to the former, alcohol is the #1 type of substance addiction in the USA. In fact, the NIH reports that nearly 29m people 12 yo and older have AUD (alcohol use disorder)…with over 750k of those are between ages of 12-17 yo. It goes on to say that approximately ½ of adults have someone in their family with a “drinking problem”. Meanwhile, many of us turn a blind eye towards the negative impact advertising has on our society while watching college and pro sports. Some might say, in essence, we have normalized a potentially harmful product and, thus, removed its stigma to a certain degree.
With respect to the latter, the recent passage of Amendment 2 to Missouri’s Constitution regarding sports betting, has some experts expressing their concerns about gambling addiction. Why? Because data reveals that 60% of the males between the ages of 18 and 22 are placing sports bets.1 As mentioned previously in this blog, the male brain is not fully developed until ~25 yo. Online betting companies are fully aware of this key piece of information and are taking advantage of it! Instant forms of placing wagers on one’s cell phone for something as minute as: Will a certain power forward miss his/her 3rd jump shot from beyond the 3-point arc? According to the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), gambling disorder is a behavioral addiction. To this end, the APA has produced an impactful, short video linked below on Gambling Disorder. Please watch and share it as you see fit.2
In the meantime, help prove me wrong by taking a stand against allowing gambling addiction in the US to become the next MH pandemic…one that is on-target to quickly dwarf the opioid crisis!!!
20% of Workers Leaving for Caregiving
Post-COVID / Healthcare Workers / PTSD
Construction’s Injury Rate Drops
Safety Helmets & Marketplace Confusion
NLRB / Anti-union Meetings / Amazon
S America / Gold Mines / Crime
Impact of Trump’s election on Human Trafficking
Mexico & Post-Biden Mass Deportations
DOGE: Is Musk recruiting tactic legal/ethical?
DANGER: Women Comics in China!!!
Where Fashion meets Scaffolding….
Canada / Research / Dangers of AI
Upcoming webinars, etc.:
Construction: Benefits & Challenges of Mentorship (11/19)
Anti-Trafficking in Persons (11/19)
EBSA: MH Parity Workshop (12/11)
Head Protection in Construction (Part 2)
Construction: Recruiting & Retaining Women
NOTE: The links provided above are for informational purposes only. None of these serve as a substitute for medical advice one should obtain from his/her own primary care physician and/or mental health professional. Please contact johngaal@moaflcio.org with related questions or comments.
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