Teresa was a forty-seven-year-old travel agent who realized that she had some drinking issues. For example, within the past three months she has experienced the need to have a drink or two before going to work, five weeks ago she failed a random hair alcohol test at work, three months ago she got stopped by the state highway patrol for a DWI, and lastly, for about four months she has begun to forget what she does and says when she drinks with her pals.
Similar to multitudes of other people, Teresa’s involvement with alcohol began gradually and remained at this pace for quite some time due to the fact at times she engaged in sporadic social drinking. If truth be told, for approximately seven months, every time she went out with her buddies to drink, she made sure to drink moderately. Something about her drinking activities, however, seemed to thoroughly change when she divorced her husband.
In Order To Rise Above the Loss of Her Husband With Less Sorrow, Teresa Came to a Decision That She Will Start Associating More Often With Some of Her Buddies Who Love to Drink and Have Fun
Teresa got dreadfully disheartened about the loss of her husband, and as a way to quit fixating on her disheartening emotions she made up her mind that she would start hanging out more repeatedly with some of her buddies who love to drink.
Quite candidly, Teresa truly believed that having fun nearly every day by getting "mellow" and drinking with her pals would help her get beyond the loss of her husband in a less troublesome manner.
Teresa’s Drinking Escalates Considerably the More Frequently She Goes to Private Parties, Family Get-Togethers, Happy Hours, Dinner Dates, and Sporting Events With Her Buddies
It didn’t take very long, however, before her drinking increased to a significant extent the more routinely she went to and drank at private parties, happy hours, sporting events, dinner dates, and family get-togethers with her pals. What is more, the fact that her drinking pals were all much younger than she was and therefore able to party more recklessly was one of the reasons why she didn’t focus more on her increased drinking. To put it briefly, she was drinking and having lots of fun just like everyone else in her group of pals without spending a lot of time thinking about the negative results of her drinking.
Yet someplace in her awareness she knew that she most likely needed alcohol rehabilitation but steered clear of the thought as much as possible.
Teresa Gets a Physical Exam, Admits Her Drinking to Her Healthcare Professional, and Acknowledges Her Depression
One late afternoon during her six-month physical examination, her healthcare practitioner asked her if she drank alcohol. Not wanting to tell “stories” to her physician, Teresa disclosed the truth that she often drinks more than she should. In truth, she stated that she routinely drinks in an irresponsible and abusive manner. Then Teresa informed her doctor about her melancholy. More specifically, she mentioned that ruined relationships more often than not generated a depressing chain of events characterized by increased drinking which further resulted in more disheartening feelings that, in turn, led to even more drinking. And this is exactly what took place when she and her husband got divorced eight months ago.
When her healthcare practitioner heard this, he told Teresa that according to various alcoholism facts and statistics on alcoholism he was examining, alcoholism and depression many times arise in the same individual. He then told her that some of the alcohol statistics, facts, and research investigations he has been studying also point out that individuals who drink excessively and who also suffer from depression need to get treatment for both medical circumstances.
Teresa’s Physician Schedules an Appointment for a Psychological Evaluation and For an Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Evaluation
Teresa’s healthcare professional then told her the following: “I am not trying to make an overly quick diagnosis, but with your medical condition we may be confronting two separate issues. As a consequence, I think we should schedule an appointment for you to get an alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction evaluation from my partner, Dr. Glosik, who is an alcohol addiction specialist. Whether your drinking circumstance is more related to alcohol abuse or alcohol dependency is not clear, but I believe that further evaluation is justifiable. Then I believe we should schedule an appointment for you to get a psychological evaluation from another one of my partners, Dr. Farr, who is a counseling psychologist. I want to get a better handle on your depression and see how much your drinking and depression are correlated.” Teresa showed her satisfaction with her physician’s line of attack and thanked him for his time and assistance.
In all honesty, Teresa now experienced a sense of personal happiness and self esteem because she finally got inspired to do something positive about her excessive drinking and her depression. Now all she had to do was to try to trim down on her drinking and wait for her appointments.
