Executives of organizations have numerous decisions to make on a daily basis, and sometimes their job can be overwhelming and extremely stressful.

This stress causes some executives to turn to drugs or alcohol to self-medicate, but if it continues the individual abusing the drugs or alcohol may develop an addition, and this may cause them to mess up at their job, and ultimately may result in them losing their job.

According to the American Society of Addiction Medicine, characteristics of addiction include, a person's inability to abstain from a substance, impairment in their behavioral control, strong cravings, and not being able to recognize significant problems with their behaviors and interpersonal relationships.

In addition, like other chronic diseases, addiction commonly involves cycles of relapse. Without treatment addiction is progressive and can result in disability or premature death.

Addiction is a complicated disease to treat, and once an executive develops an addiction to a drug, their life will change, whether they want it to or not.

A drug addiction will disrupt an executive's ability to think clearly, it will begin to cause problems in their relationships with others, it will impact them financially, and it may ultimately cause them to lose their job.

In addition, an executive at a company commonly oversees other employees, and if they are addicted to a drug, they may make poor decisions resulting in their employees losing their job as well.

At some point an executive suffering from a drug addiction will realize that they need help. Although there are thousands of treatment programs, they may not want their treatment to interfere with their personal life or their job. An executive who needs treatment will need to find a treatment program that works for them, and in order to do this, they will need to explore their options.