Occupational Stress, Psychological Distress, and Psychoactive Substance Use: A Clinical Case Study

Abstract

Occupational stress has become a major global issue, affecting workers' mental health and well-being. Increasing pressures in the professional environment have led to a significant rise in psychological distress among many individuals. To cope with this growing pressure, individuals resort to coping strategies and defense mechanisms, including the use of psychoactive substances. Objective: This study aims to highlight the complex interactions between occupational stress, psychological distress, and the use of psychoactive substances, with a focus on the underlying psychological processes of this comorbidity in a clinical case. Method: A clinical study was conducted on a Moroccan worker who presented both chronic occupational stress and cannabis dependence, with a thorough psychodynamic analysis. Results: The psychodynamic analysis of clinical cases revealed that personal factors, such as low self-esteem, lack of self-confidence, poor self-management, alexithymia, introversion, and narcissistic gaps, can be precipitating factors for stress. They can also lead to psychoactive substance use, which is used as a defensive and adjustment mechanism to restore psychological balance. Conclusion: Occupational stress weakens an individual's psychological resources, leading them to seek psychoactive substances as a means of defense, anesthesia, and avoidance of psychological suffering, in a form of self-medication.