{"id":224181,"date":"2025-06-29T14:22:15","date_gmt":"2025-06-29T14:22:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/224181\/"},"modified":"2025-06-29T14:22:15","modified_gmt":"2025-06-29T14:22:15","slug":"too-much-wfh-can-fuel-drug-and-alcohol-abuse-warns-top-mental-health-boss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/224181\/","title":{"rendered":"Too much WFH can fuel drug and alcohol abuse, warns top mental health boss"},"content":{"rendered":"

By CALUM MUIRHEAD<\/a> <\/a> <\/p>\n

Updated: 04:20 EDT, 29 June 2025 <\/p>\n

Working from home can increase the risk of drug abuse and alcoholism, the head of the world’s most expensive mental health clinic has warned.<\/p>\n

Jan Gerber, founder of Paracelsus Recovery in Zurich, Switzerland, where treatment plans start at \u00a361,000 and clients include royalty and Hollywood celebrities, said people resisting a return to the office in the belief that remote working helped their mental health ‘may actually suffer’ in the long term.<\/p>\n

He says office working and talking with colleagues encourages the body to release oxytocin, a hormone that reduces stress and anxiety.\u00a0<\/p>\n

By contrast, people working from home risked suffering ‘prolonged isolation’ and blurring the lines between their professional and personal lives, fuelling stress.<\/p>\n

This can then result in habits such as drug-taking or excessive drinking to soothe the ‘disconnection’ from others caused by long periods of working alone at a computer, Gerber said.<\/p>\n

\"Expensive: <\/p>\n

Expensive: Jan Gerber charges upwards of \u00a361,000 to treat clients including royalty and Hollywood stars at his Zurich mental health clinic<\/p>\n

‘This disconnection can trigger a need to self-soothe, often with alcohol.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘The absence of regular social structure and blurred professional boundaries \u2013 for example, knowing you only have a 12pm meeting the next day \u2013 makes it easier to fall into harmful habits,’ he added.<\/p>\n

A Norwegian study showed that people who worked from home for more than 15 hours a week were inclined to drink more alcohol than their office-based counterparts.<\/p>\n

Another survey from 2021 by drug recovery firm Sierra Tucson reported 20 per cent of US workers admitted to using alcohol, marijuana or other recreational drugs while working from home.<\/p>\n

‘Working in an office is a significantly healthier choice for mental well-being,’ Gerber said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He added: ‘Workers who are resisting a return to the office, perhaps believing remote working gives them a better work-life balance and is good for their mental health, should be aware that in the long term, their mental health may actually suffer.’<\/p>\n

The warnings come as many British workers refuse to return to the office following a boom in remote working during the pandemic.<\/p>\n

In May, research from King’s College London revealed that Britons worked from home more than the workforce of any other country in Europe, with the average white-collar worker spending 1.8 days a week working outside the office.<\/p>\n

It followed a study from the university revealing that fewer than half of British employees said they would comply if their employer ordered them back to the office full-time, with 10 per cent saying that they would quit immediately.<\/p>\n

Concerns are growing that large numbers of people still working from home are damaging critical parts of the UK economy and Government.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A scathing report into the UK’s Office for National Statistics revealed that the agency’s policy of allowing staff to work from home five days a week was making the quality of crucial economic data less reliable.<\/p>\n

It means bodies such as the Bank of England are having to rely on other types of data to make critical decisions on interest rates<\/a>, which affect millions of mortgage borrowers.<\/p>\n

DIY INVESTING PLATFORMS\"EasyAJ Bell\"EasyAJ Bell<\/p>\n

Easy investing and ready-made portfolios<\/p>\n

\"FreeHargreaves Lansdown\"FreeHargreaves Lansdown<\/p>\n

Free fund dealing and investment ideas<\/p>\n

\"Flat-feeinteractive investor\"Flat-feeinteractive investor<\/p>\n

Flat-fee investing from \u00a34.99 per month<\/p>\n

\"AccountInvestEngine\"AccountInvestEngine<\/p>\n

Account and trading fee-free ETF investing<\/p>\n

\"FreeTrading 212\"FreeTrading 212<\/p>\n

Free share dealing and no account fee<\/p>\n

Affiliate links: If you take out a product This is Money may earn a commission. These deals are chosen by our editorial team, as we think they are worth highlighting. This does not affect our editorial independence.<\/p>\n

Compare the best investing account for you <\/a><\/p>\n

Share or comment on this article:
\n Too much WFH can fuel drug and alcohol abuse, warns top mental health boss<\/p>\n