Consistency is one of the best ways to maintain human relationships after you have fostered them. Humans, by nature are not very predictable, and this can stress certain people out, especially addicts who require consistency in order to gain better control over their own lives, even if it is only within their own minds. Addicts especially love to be surrounded by predictable humans, but all people love consistency because then they understand and know what to expect next out of someone. Ironically, drug addicts and alcoholics often are not consistent themselves, which causes a great deal of added stress in the people around them.
When someone is not consistent with a friend or coworker, the latter’s previous opinion and assessment of them must change. Good friends and close coworkers have a typical amount of time in which they become good friends and learn all about each other’s daily or weekly idiosyncrasies. Interestingly enough, this is part of what draws them closer together. People feel close to others when they feel that they can predict what the other person will or will not do, and that outsiders cannot predict those things. This is why you will often find best friends or family members to be particularly adamant about any mistakes you may have made about their comrade. They enjoy pointing out how they know this particular individual better than you do.
Unfortunately, alcoholism and drug addiction destroy relationships, not just because of the directly destructive characteristics of these two diseases, but because it changes a person’s typical, expected behavior into something which their friends and family members cannot predict and no longer understand or are familiar with. Not only do their friends and family members no longer feel close to them, but they are actually traveling down a path which is very separate from the rest of their comrades. They are actively engaging in self destruction, which will in turn change their own world into something colder, darker and hungrier.
In the workplace, consistency is extremely important. An employer must be able to rely upon their employees, and their employees must be able to rely upon their employer. Coworkers must be able to predict each other’s behavior in order to be productive and time efficient. Employee drug and alcohol screening is crucial in maintaining this consistency. Call Mediscreen today: (+61) 1300 79 70 40.
