A Woman Displays Symptoms Of Alcohol Dependency And Depression, Gets Inspired And Motivated About Making An Appointment To See Her Physician About Her Abusive And Hazardous Drinking, And Starts To Address Her Anger, Stress, And Time Management Issues
Teresa was a forty-six-year-old legal secretary who realized that she had a drinking problem. For instance, within the past seven months she has experienced the need to have one or two drinks before going to work, two months ago she failed a random blood alcohol test at work, seven weeks ago she got arrested by the police for “driving under the influence”, and finally, for approximately six months she has begun to forget what she does and says when she goes out drinking with her pals.
Similar to other people, Teresa’s experiences with alcohol started out slowly and continued at this tempo for quite a long time because sometimes she engaged in intermittent social drinking. In fact, for about four years, every time she went out with her coworkers to drink, she made sure to drink in a responsible manner. Something about her drinking activities, nevertheless, seemed to radically change when she got divorced from her husband.
So She Can Come to Terms With the Breakup of Her Husband More Rapidly, Teresa Decided to Start Going Out More Frequently With Some of Her Friends Who Love to Party
Teresa got very “down” about the divorce from her husband, and as a way to stop fixating on her disheartening emotions she came to a decision that she would begin hanging out more routinely with some of her friends who love to drink.
Quite forthrightly, Teresa believed that having fun almost every day by getting an alcohol “buzz” with her friends would help her recover from the divorce of her husband with less misery.
Anger, Time, and Stress Management Problems
Teresa also reasoned that drinking and partying with her buddies would help her avoid her stress, anger, and time management difficulties.
Teresa’s Drinking Increases Significantly the More Habitually She Goes to Happy Hours, Private Parties, Sporting Events, Family Get-Togethers, and Dinner Dates With Her Friends
It didn’t take very long, however, before her drinking increased to a significant degree the more often she went to and drank at private parties, dinner dates, happy hours, sporting events, and family get-togethers with her buddies. What is more, the fact that her drinking pals were all quite a bit younger than she was and therefore able to party more carelessly was one of the reasons that she didn’t direct more of her attention to her increased drinking. In a word, she was drinking and having fun just like everyone else in her group of pals without too much deliberation regarding the effects of her abusive and irresponsible drinking.
Yet somewhere in the recesses of her mind she realized that she more likely than not needed alcohol counseling but steered clear of the thought as much as humanly possible.
Teresa Gets a Physical, ”Comes Clean” About Her Hazardous and Excessive Drinking to Her Doctor, and Discloses the Truth About Her Constant Negativity
One late afternoon during her annual physical exam, her doctor asked her if she drank alcohol. Not wanting to tell “stories” to her physician, Teresa ”came clean” and stated that she routinely drinks more than she should. In reality, she articulated that she frequently drinks in an abusive and excessive manner. Then Teresa told her doctor about her dejection. More precisely, she articulated that shattered relationships often elicited a negative progression of events typified by increased drinking which further led to more dismal feelings that, in turn, led to even more drinking. And this is exactly what took place when her husband and she got divorced ten months ago.
When her physician heard this, he told Teresa that according to various alcoholism facts and statistics on alcoholism he was exploring, alcoholism and depression routinely arise in the same individual. He then informed her that some of the alcohol statistics, facts, and research investigations he has been reading about also underline the fact that people who drink in an excessive and irresponsible manner and who also experience depression need to get treatment for both medical circumstances.
Teresa’s Healthcare Practitioner Makes an Appointment for a Psychological Appraisal and For an Alcohol Abuse and Alcohol Dependency Assessment
Teresa’s physician then articulated the following: “I am not trying to make a snap diagnosis, but with your medical circumstances we may be working with two separate matters. Consequently, I think we should schedule an appointment for you to get an alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction appraisal from my partner, Dr. Bakos, who is an alcohol addiction specialist. Whether your drinking problem is more associated with alcohol dependency or alcohol abuse is not clear, but I think that further evaluation is reasonable. Then I feel we need to make an appointment for you to get a psychological assessment from another one of my partners, Dr. Berger, who is a clinical psychologist. I want to get a better understanding about your sadness and see how much your depression and drinking are interlinked.” Teresa expressed her approval of her healthcare practitioner’s plan of attack and thanked him for his help.
Teresa Manages Her Stress, Time, and Anger Management Problems
In all honesty, Teresa now experienced a sense of personal happiness and self esteem because she finally became inspired to do something constructive about her abusive and excessive drinking and her depression. What is more, Teresa also knew that after alcohol rehabilitation she would be better able to address her stress, time, and anger management difficulties. Now all she had to do was to try to trim down on her drinking and get ready for her appointments.
