Teresa was a forty-nine-year-old floral designer who knew that she had a problem with her drinking. For instance, within the past five months she has experienced the need to have three or four drinks before going to work, two months ago she tested positive for a breathalyzer test where she is employed, two weeks ago she got arrested for a DUI, and last but not least, for the past five months she has begun to fail to remember what she does and says when she drinks with her friends.
Similar to multitudes of other drinkers, Teresa’s experiences with alcohol began little by little and continued at this level for quite some time because at times she engaged in intermittent social drinking. In truth, for approximately four years, every time she went out with her pals to drink, she made sure to drink moderately. Something about her pattern of drinking, nonetheless, seemed to radically change when she got divorced.
In Order To Endure the Divorce of Her Husband In a More Uncomplicated Manner, Teresa Came to a Decision That She Will Start Going Out More Repeatedly With Some of Her Buddies Who Love to Drink and Have Fun
Teresa got very sad about the loss of her husband, and as a way to quit obsessing about her discouraging feelings she came to a decision that she would begin going out more repeatedly with some of her buddies who love to have fun drinking.
Quite honestly, Teresa reasoned that having fun nearly every day by getting “mellow” and drinking with her buddies would help her get over the divorce of her husband in a less painful manner.
Anger, Stress, and Time Management Problems
Teresa also reasoned that partying and drinking with her pals would help her steer clear of her anger, stress, and time management issues.
Teresa’s Drinking Increases Greatly the More Routinely She Goes to Private Parties, Happy Hours, Sporting Events, Dinner Dates, and Family Get-Togethers With Her Pals
It didn’t take too long, however, before her drinking increased to a significant degree the more habitually she went to and drank at sporting events, happy hours, family get-togethers, dinner dates, and private parties with her pals. In addition, the fact that her drinking buddies were all much younger than she was and therefore able to party and drink more carelessly was one of the reasons that she didn’t allocate more of her attention to her increased drinking. To be brief, she was having lots of fun drinking just like everybody else in her group of pals without giving too much consideration about the results of her excessive and irresponsible drinking.
Yet someplace in her mind she realized that she more likely than not required alcohol treatment but steered clear of the thought as much as possible.
Teresa Gets a Physical Exam, Discloses the Truth About Her Hazardous and Abusive Drinking to Her Healthcare Professional, and Owns Up to the Truth About Her Sadness
One morning during her annual physical, her physician asked her if she drank alcohol. Not wanting to tell “stories” to her doctor, Teresa owned up to the fact that she frequently drinks more than she should. In truth, she stated that she routinely drinks in an irresponsible and excessive manner. Then Teresa informed her healthcare practitioner about her depression. More to the point, she stated that broken relationships more often than not sparked a negative sequence of events typified by increased drinking which further led to more depressing feelings that, in turn, resulted in more drinking. And this is precisely what took place when her husband and she got divorced two years ago.
When her physician heard this, he told Teresa that according to various alcoholism facts and statistics on alcoholism he was reviewing, alcoholism and depression commonly occur in the same person. He then told her that some of the alcohol statistics, research investigations, and facts he has been studying also underline the fact that individuals who drink in a hazardous and excessive manner and who also go through depression need to get treatment for both medical situations.
Teresa’s Healthcare Practitioner Schedules an Appointment for a Psychological Appraisal and For an Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse Appraisal
Teresa’s doctor then articulated the following: “I am not trying to make an impulsive diagnosis, but with your medical circumstances we may be facing two separate issues. As a consequence, I think we ought to make an appointment for you to get an alcohol dependency and alcohol abuse assessment from my partner, Dr. Ulrich, who is a drug and alcohol abuse specialist. Keep in mind that you may need alcohol detox. Whether your drinking circumstance is more associated with alcohol abuse or alcohol dependency is unknown at this time, but I think that further exploration is required. Then I believe we need to schedule an appointment for you to get a psychological examination from another one of my partners, Dr. Frankel, who is a psychologist. I want to get some additional information about your melancholy and see how much your depression and drinking are associated.” Teresa expressed her approval of her physician’s strategy and thanked him for his help.
Teresa Faces the Sexuality Difficulties and the Conflict When She Was Married
In reality, Teresa now felt a sense of personal self esteem and happiness because she finally became inspired to do something constructive about her excessive drinking and her depression. What is more, Teresa also realized that after alcohol rehabilitation she would be better able to address the sexuality issues and the conflict when she was married. Now all she had to do was to try to decrease her drinking and wait for her appointments.
