You hired a great employee, but they are showing troubling signs of addiction. Sadly, statistics indicate that there's a good chance an employee with a drug addiction may also have borderline personality disorder, a troubling mental health problem that makes life very difficult. Here's what you need to know about how addiction and this disorder can be handled in this situation.

Signs Your Employee Has Borderline Personality Disorder And May Be Addicted

Before you assume that employee has addiction and borderline personality disorder, it is worth briefly understanding these conditions and how they interact. A person with borderline personality disorder has a severe fear of being abandoned and a series of unstable and intense personal relationships. They also have periods of paranoia and engage in impulsive behaviors, such as drug use.

If your employee is getting into fights with their co-workers and behaving in erratic and problematic ways, they may have borderline personality disorder. Sadly, they may have turned to drugs as a way to either treat their symptoms or as part of their risky behavior personality. Addiction only makes borderline personality harder to control, so it is worth asking yourself if you should fire your employee or help them get treatment.

When To Fire Them

If your employee is engaging in dangerous behavior at work or putting the lives of other co-workers at risk, it may be time to fire them. The problem here is that addiction is classified as a mental health disorder and, in many cases, is something which you cannot fire your employee over due to the Americans with Disabilities Act. You are required to give them reasonable accommodation, such as time off for treatment for their addiction and their borderline personality disorder.

However, if your employee is abusing drugs at work or suffering from symptoms of borderline personality disorder that affect their performance in a severe way, it is possible to fire your employee. This is especially true because using most drugs is against the law and can be considered a legal matter if drug use is continual.

When Treatment Is Worth It

When you hired your employee, you believed that they had the ability and the skill to meet the duties of their job. If you still think they have these abilities in spite of their addiction, or if they have shown themselves capable of handling them in the past, it may be worth sending them to addiction treatment. It is also worth getting them treatment if they have shown years of loyalty to your company and you want to reward them for their hard work.

In drug treatment, they will go through detox and a variety of psychological examinations. If it is decided they have borderline personality disorder, they will go through dialectical behavior therapy to help balance their emotional difficulties. In this way, you can regain the loyal employee you once had, avoid the costs of restaffing, and help this person regain the drug-free life they deserve. For more information, contact professionals like Olalla Recovery Centers.