Successful recovery from addiction without stress
Successful recovery from addiction usually requires you to make some changes in your life. For example, it is difficult to stay sober when you have unhealthy habits, wrong friends or a lot of stress. A major source of stress for many people is their job. While it's not realistic to expect a job to be completely free of stress, boredom, and irritation, some jobs are worse than others. If your job is a major source of stress and anxiety, consider looking elsewhere.
Stressful jobs
High-stress jobs and long hours are highly associated with addiction. Jobs in the law and finance sectors are especially bad. Lawyers, for example, have extremely high rates of suicide and depression. Financial instability causes additional stress. You sometimes see this in sales jobs, where in addition to an income based on commission, people often have to travel a lot.
Some jobs are stressful by nature like jobs in the medical field. Nurses, doctors and other staff have too many patients and too little time. They spend their days caring for the sick and dying. Knowing their mistakes can be deadly. Fortunately, there are many different jobs in the medical field. If the stress of caring for patients tempts you to relapse, there are far less stressful roles where your experience can be a huge benefit.
There are also jobs that are dangerous or physically demanding. Mining, woodwork, fishing, and construction are jobs that often require workers to be away from home for weeks at a time. They may have to process pain and injuries. Many of these jobs are slowly becoming scarce and adding stress to financial uncertainty. As a result, the abuse of alcohol and other substances is common in these types of jobs. If your job is dangerous and takes you away from your family and support network, a change can be good.
Whether or not to change jobs
Whether you decide to change jobs depends on your situation. Jobs are difficult to find in some areas. Most people are understandably reluctant to quit a well-paying job, even when it's stressful. Sometimes the solution is to manage your stress and take extra precautions against triggers. If that doesn't work, you may need to reassess your priorities. Maybe you can cut costs elsewhere so that you have more flexibility to change jobs. Remember, if you can't stay sober, the job will eventually end anyway. If you have to sacrifice some income in the short term to stay sober, it can open up new opportunities for the future.