Teresa was a thirty-one-year-old office manager who realized that she had some problems with her drinking. As an illustration, within the past month she has felt the need to have several drinks before going to work, six weeks ago she failed to pass a random urine alcohol test where she is employed, five weeks ago she got pulled over by the police for a DWI, and lastly, for around three months she has started to forget what she does and says when she goes out drinking with her buddies.
Similar to hosts of other drinkers, Teresa’s alcohol involvement started out slowly and stayed at this level of involvement for quite a long period of time because once in a "blue moon" she engaged in sporadic social drinking. As a matter of fact, for around a year, every time she went out with her friends to drink, she made sure to drink in a responsible manner. Something about her drinking, nonetheless, seemed to drastically change when she divorced her husband.
In Order To Get Over the Breakup of Her Husband More Quickly, Teresa Came to the Conclusion That She Will Begin Associating More Regularly With Some of Her Buddies Who Love to Have Fun and Drink
Teresa got especially despondent about the loss of her husband, and as a way to abstain from fixating on her dismal emotions she made up her mind that she would start hanging out more repeatedly with some of her buddies who love to party.
Quite sincerely, Teresa believed that having fun nearly every day by drinking and partying with her friends would help her rise above the breakup of her husband in a less painful manner.
Stress, Anger, and Time Management Difficulties
Teresa also thought that drinking and partying with her buddies would help her stay away from her anger, stress, and time management problems.
Teresa’s Drinking Increases Significantly the More Habitually She Goes to Private Parties, Sporting Events, Happy Hours, Family Get-Togethers, and Dinner Dates With Her Friends
It didn’t take too long, however, before her drinking increased considerably the more frequently she went to and drank at sporting events, happy hours, private parties, dinner dates, and family get-togethers with her buddies. What is more, the fact that her drinking buddies were all quite a few years younger than she was and therefore able to party more frequently and harder was one of the reasons why she didn’t allocate more of her attention to her increased drinking. Simply put, she was having a great time drinking just like everyone else in her group of friends without much forethought about the negative effects of her abusive and irresponsible drinking.
Yet in the back of her mind she knew that she most likely needed alcohol rehab but avoided the thought as much as humanly possible.
Teresa Gets a Physical Examination, ”Comes Clean” About Her Abusive and Excessive Drinking to Her Doctor, and ”Comes Clean” About Her General State of Despair
One afternoon during her twelve month physical, her healthcare practitioner asked her if she drank alcohol. Not wanting to tell falsehoods to her physician, Teresa disclosed the truth that she commonly drinks more than she should. In truth, she said that she frequently drinks in an abusive and irresponsible manner. Then Teresa informed her physician about her sadness. More plainly, she mentioned that wrecked relationships frequently caused a dismal chain of events characterized by increased drinking which further resulted in more dismal feelings that, in turn, resulted in even more drinking. And this is exactly what took place when she and her husband got divorced seven months ago.
When her healthcare practitioner heard this, he told Teresa that according to various alcoholism facts and statistics on alcoholism he was researching, alcoholism and depression many times take place in the same individual. He then informed her that some of the alcohol statistics, facts, and research investigations he has been studying also stress the fact that people who drink in an abusive and irresponsible manner and who also suffer from depression need to get treatment for both medical conditions.
Teresa’s Doctor Schedules an Appointment for a Psychological Evaluation and For an Alcohol Abuse and Alcohol Dependency Evaluation
Teresa’s doctor then stated the following: “I am not trying to make a sudden analysis, but with your medical situation we may be facing two separate matters. As a result, I think we ought to make an appointment for you to get an alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction appraisal from my partner, Dr. Jefferson, who is an alcohol addiction specialist. Whether your drinking situation is more related to alcohol abuse or alcohol dependency is unknown, but I believe that further evaluation is needed. Then I believe we should make an appointment for you to get a psychological assessment from another one of my partners, Dr. Farr, who is a psychologist. I want to get a better read on your dejection and see how much your drinking and depression are intertwined.” Teresa expressed her satisfaction with her healthcare professional’s treatment strategy and thanked him for his time and assistance.
Teresa Faces the Sexuality Problems and the Conflict When She Was Married
In reality, Teresa now experienced a sense of personal self esteem and happiness because she finally got inspired to do something positive about her excessive drinking and her depression. What is more, Teresa also realized that after alcohol counseling she would be more able to manage the conflict and the sexuality problems when she was married. Now all she had to do was to try to cut back on her drinking and get ready for her appointments.
