Reply #43: I know a number people with a history of substance abuse, with whom I've discussed

[struggle4progress]

the issue on various occasions.

As a general rule, you might think of substance abuse as an (ineffective) way of dealing with certain kinds of psychological tension: instead of addressing the real issues, the person becomes intoxicated. So (for example) people who feel stressed in certain social settings may escape by claiming to be tired, then go drinking.

For this reason, there are some general personality symptoms sometimes associated with substance abuse. These include: secrecy and/or dishonesty (needed to hide the abuse from others), a tendency to blame others (needed to hide the underlying psychological problem from oneself), and poor anger management (or other indicators of stress resulting from the underlying problem). Low self-esteem seems to be common, though it may not be evident to observers, who notice instead the blaming of others that masks it.

Unfortunately, it is not that uncommon for people to relapse under stress, even after extended clean periods.

What you can or should do, in your circumstance, is less clear.

First, you probably cannot identify the actual problem accurately from casual acquaintance: the person might be clean (for example) but still unable to handle certain stresses well. Second, unless the person has decided that some help is needed (whether for a substance problem or a psychological problem), intervention is tricky. Third, certain problems (including substance abuse) may turn people into expert manipulators, in which case you might prefer the person doesn't really learn very much about the workings of your mind. And, of course, there is the whole potentially sticky glob of workplace politics.

The situation is best if your responsibilities and his don't overlap: then you can just try to ignore it when he's a jerk, minimizing contact and being as cheerful and uninterested as possible when he's a bully, especially if there are witnesses.

If you have to work closely with the person, and there's a danger that he may blame his screw-ups on you, you might do well to quietly keep some sort of paper record for yourself, distinguishing what you did from what he did and noting what part of his job you had to do because he wasn't there. If it really gets bad, you might try discussing with your supervisor the fact that you would benefit from better delineated job responsibilities, because it can be difficult to fill in during his frequent health problems.

The situation is worst if he is in a supervisory position over you, in which case you may have to be carefully creative.