"Telling something so personal would have lessened my authority as a leader," said a 65-year-old executive of a computer company in Philadelphia, Pa., speaking on the condition of anonymity. He recently received 28 days of treatment for alcoholism at the Caron Foundation in Wernersville, Pa. "As a manager, you have to create some distance between you and your employees."

With addiction costing employers more in lost productivity, absenteeism, and healthcare expenses, companies are offering confidential employee-assistance programs or services through their human-resources departments.

But professionals are looking for ways to utilize the services without telling their colleagues about it. Others want to keep up their workload while going through treatment.

"These people want to keep their careers on track, and so they don't feel like they can take a moment out for themselves. But I have to convince them that if they don't get help, their career -- not to mention their lives -- might end up in the toilet," said Bruce Cotter, who has confiscated cell phones and laptops from executives after they entered treatment. His company, Bruce W. Cotter & Associates in Butler, Md., mediates on behalf of companies to provide treatment for addicted executives.

Others are concerned about losing their jobs. "A lot of executives who return to work are so fearful of losing their jobs, especially in this economy, that they step up the pace of their work and don't take vacations, or even lunch breaks," said Ruth Luban, a psychotherapist based in Santa Monica, Calif.

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