Employee Assistance/Flight Attendant Drug and Alcohol Program

FEB 15 - In many cases, for our personal well-being, we may have sought the assistance of medical professionals in addressing stress and other health issues. As we do this, we need to increase our awareness of how certain medications may interact with alcohol and ultimately, may impact our personal situation. 

 

Over the course of the past two years as we have all worked through the challenges COVID has presented us and our families, we have been faced a myriad of issues from sickness through reduced work schedules as well as the stress we are faced with daily when on the job as we work through differences in perspectives and points of view of passengers and fellow employees. 

In many cases, for our personal well-being, we may have sought the assistance of medical professionals in addressing stress and other health issues. As we do this, we need to increase our awareness of how certain medications may interact with alcohol and ultimately, may impact our personal situation. 

 

For example, combining antidepressants with alcohol could worsen your symptoms and can be extremely dangerous. If you combine alcohol and antidepressants:

• You may feel more depressed or anxious. Drinking can counteract the benefits of your antidepressant medication, making your symptoms more difficult to treat. Alcohol may improve your mood short term, but overall increases symptoms of depression and anxiety
• You may be at risk of alcohol abuse. People with depression are at increased risk of substance abuse and addiction. If you have trouble controlling your alcohol use, substance use treatment may be necessary before your depression improves.
• Side effects may be worse if you take another medication. Many medications cause problems when taken with alcohol-including anti-anxiety, sleep, and prescription pain medications.
• Your thinking and alertness may be impaired. The combination of antidepressants and alcohol will affect your judgment, coordination, motor skills and reaction time more than alcohol alone. This can impair your ability to drive and to other tasks, such as perform safety sensitive duties as a Flight Attendant which require us to be focused and alert.
• You may become sedated or drowsy. Some antidepressants cause sedation and drowsiness, but with alcohol the combined effect can be intensified.  

For these reasons, it is vital that you tell your doctor about any health conditions and medications you take, including over-the-counter medications and supplements.

Keeping your doctor informed is important because: Some liquid medications, such as cough syrups, can contain alcohol. As you age, your body processes medication differently and levels of medication in your body may need to be adjusted. Adding a new medication may change the level of another medication in your body and how your body reacts to all of them in combination.

For more information, consider the information in the following articles:

Can I Drink Alcohol with Anxiety Medications?

Anxiety Medications and Alcohol

As always, if you have questions or concerns or would just like to talk to a sympathetic person, our Employee Assistance peer professionals are always available.  Contact your Local Council.