The Hidden Crisis: Substance Use In The High-Stress World Of Finance

You know, from the outside, finance looks like the dream. Big paychecks, corner offices, fast-paced deals — all that energy and ambition.  

But when you’re inside it, really living it, the truth feels different. The stress is relentless. The pressure doesn’t just follow you home — it moves in, unpacks, and never leaves. 

And that’s the problem no one wants to talk about. Behind the gloss and glamour, a lot of people are struggling — and some are quietly leaning on drug help to cope.  

It’s not just a bad habit or “blowing off steam.” It’s survival, in a twisted way. And honestly, the need for proper help is becoming impossible to ignore. 

The Pressure Cooker Environment 

If you’ve ever worked in finance, you know that sense of always being behind, even when you’re ahead.  

The industry runs like a never-ending sprint — markets don’t wait, clients don’t sleep, and deadlines never stop. People joke about “living on caffeine,” but for some, it’s not just coffee keeping them upright. 

A Mental Health Foundation report found that about 67% of people in finance feel overwhelmed by job stress. That number doesn’t surprise me at all.  

The long hours, the competition, the unspoken rule that rest equals laziness — it eats you alive. There’s no room for weakness, and no one wants to be “that person” who cracks under pressure. 

So you fake it. You push through another 14-hour day, tell yourself it’s fine, and maybe pour a drink to calm your nerves.  

One drink turns into two, then something stronger. Before you know it, it’s part of the routine. Not because you want to, but because you can’t slow down long enough to stop. 

1. Long Work Hours And Sleep Deprivation 

Backbreaking work schedules have long defined investment banking and trading. Analysts have worked 80 to 100 hours weekly, surviving on coffee and energy drinks with little or no rest. Sleep deprivation increases stress chemicals like cortisol, which distort emotional control and judgment—states which can make drug use a matter of escape or “coping mechanism.” 

2. Performance-Based Culture 

Failure is not an easy pill to swallow in professional life. Professional growth in a career, at a job, and salary are performance- and quarterly-driven. This “up or out” culture generates perfectionism as well as fear, and some professionals will be more likely to use such drugs as Adderall or cocaine in order to stay alert and awake for hours on end. 

3. Emotional Burnout And Market Turbulence 

Financial asset managers and speculators have a strange psychological burden: their own success or failure is subject to unforeseen exogenous shocks, whether economic transformation or geopolitical turmoil. The spooking uncertainty produces chronic anxiety and mood shifts, which lead some of them to self-medicate with drugs that only address symptomatic relief. 

The Impact Of Stress On Mental Health 

Chronic stress doesn’t just make you tired — it rewires your brain. I’ve seen people go from sharp and confident to anxious, paranoid, and detached, all within a few years of the grind. You start losing focus.  

You forget what weekends feel like. You tell yourself you’re fine because everyone around you seems just as wrecked. 

That’s the scary part — dysfunction becomes normal. A little drink before bed, a pill to stay sharp during the day. At first, it feels like control. But the truth? It’s the opposite.  

You start slipping — your decisions get sloppy, your patience wears thin, and your relationships (if you still have any) start cracking. 

And when that happens, the shame hits. You know something’s wrong, but the fear of being seen as weak keeps you quiet. Meanwhile, the cycle just spins faster.  

It’s not just individuals who suffer, either. Whole teams, whole firms — they lose their edge when people burn out behind closed doors. 

The Role Of Workplace Culture 

Let’s talk about culture — because this is where a lot of the rot starts. Finance, for all its talk about innovation and performance, still rewards one thing above all: endurance.  

You’re not admired for balance; you’re admired for not breaking. You brag about how little you slept, how long you worked, how many deals you closed before breakfast. 

The problem is, that mindset seeps into everything. People don’t take time off. They don’t admit when they’re drowning. They wear exhaustion like a badge of honor. And behind that facade, a lot of people are quietly falling apart. 

Then there’s the stigma. Mental health? Off-limits. Substance issues? Career suicide. Nobody wants to be whispered about or labeled “unstable.”  

So they keep it bottled up — literally and figuratively. The irony? The same people who can manage millions in assets can’t ask for help with their own wellbeing. 

Seeking Help And Support 

Here’s the part we need to get real about — this won’t change unless companies make it safe to be human again. People in finance need permission to stop pretending they’re machines. 

That means real support systems, not surface-level wellness programs with fruit bowls and corporate yoga sessions. It means open-door conversations, confidential counseling, actual policies that back people up instead of punishing them for struggling. 

If leaders started talking honestly about burnout and addiction — not as PR statements but as lived realities — things might start shifting. It’s not weakness to need help; it’s survival. 

And look, balance doesn’t mean people won’t work hard. It means they’ll work smarter, longer, and with clearer heads. Encourage time off. Celebrate moderation instead of martyrdom. Remind people that success isn’t measured by how many nights you sleep under your desk. 

Dealing With Substance Use!

The truth is, the finance world has a substance problem — and pretending it doesn’t only makes it worse. Nearly seven out of ten workers say they’re overwhelmed. That’s not “normal.” That’s an epidemic of stress, and stress always finds an outlet. 

The good news? It can change. If companies start listening — really listening — and creating spaces where vulnerability doesn’t cost you your career, people will heal. The culture will shift. 

Because at the end of the day, this isn’t about drugs or alcohol. It’s about pain. It’s about pressure. It’s about people trying to survive in a system that rewards burnout. 

Maybe it’s time finance stops glorifying the grind and starts remembering there are actual humans behind those profit margins. When people feel seen and supported, they don’t just work better — they live better. And that’s something worth investing in.