Help seeking for AOD misuse among social workers: patterns, barriers, and implications.

Social workers experience alcohol and other drug (AOD) problems, yet little is known about how they deal with these issues. To begin to address this gap in knowledge, this study presents data from a sample of NASW members and describes how frequently social workers seek support for AOD problems, the kinds of assistance they typically obtain, how helpful they find the assistance, the barriers that discourage them from seeking help, and the relationship between help seeking and impairment. The data suggest that social workers do not frequently seek help, even when they are high-risk AOD users. Respondents reported a number of personal reasons for not obtaining assistance, but when they sought help, they found both peer support and formal treatment beneficial. Help seeking was also related to a variety of professional impairments. Implications for practice and research are discussed.