Teresa was a forty-three-year-old speech pathologist who realized that she had some problems with her drinking. For example, within the past seven months she has felt the need to have a drink or two before going to work, three weeks ago she failed to pass a random hair alcohol test at work, four weeks ago she got arrested by the state highway patrol for “driving under the influence”, and lastly, for around seven months she has started to fail to remember what she does and says when she drinks.
Not unlike other drinkers, Teresa’s involvement with alcohol began slowly and remained at this level for quite a long time due to the fact sometimes she engaged in sporadic social drinking. In reality, for roughly three years, every time she went out with her coworkers to drink, she made sure to drink in moderation. Something about her drinking situation, nevertheless, seemed to drastically change when her husband divorced her.
So She Can Get Over the Divorce of Her Husband In a less Painful manner, Teresa Made Up Her Mind To Start Going Out More Often With Some of Her Buddies Who Love to Drink
Teresa got dreadfully disheartened about the loss of her husband, and as a way to quit obsessing about her negative emotions she arrived at a decision that she would start hanging out more repeatedly with some of her pals who love to party.
Quite candidly, Teresa thought that having fun nearly every day by drinking with her buddies would help her get over the breakup of her husband in a more pain free manner.
Teresa’s Drinking Escalates Greatly the More Routinely She Goes to Private Parties, Happy Hours, Sporting Events, Dinner Dates, and Family Get-Togethers With Her Friends
It didn’t take very long, however, before her drinking escalated considerably the more routinely she went to and drank at dinner dates, happy hours, family get-togethers, sporting events, and private parties with her pals. Furthermore, the fact that her drinking friends were all younger than she was and therefore able to drink more irresponsibly was one of the reasons that she didn’t allocate more of her attention to her increased drinking. In a word, she was drinking and having tons of fun just like everyone else in her group of friends without giving too much consideration about the unhealthy effects of her drinking.
Yet somewhere in her mind she knew that she most likely required alcohol counseling but steered clear of the thought as much as she could.
Teresa Gets a Physical Examination, Owns Up to the Facts About Her Hazardous and Irresponsible Drinking to Her Healthcare Professional, and Admits Her General State of Gloom
One day during her six-month physical exam, her doctor asked her if she drank alcohol. Not wanting to tell “stories” to her doctor, Teresa admitted that she often drinks more than she should. As a matter of fact, she articulated that she commonly drinks in a hazardous and excessive manner. Then Teresa informed her healthcare professional about her sadness. More to the point, she mentioned that wrecked relationships more often than not generated a discouraging chain of events characterized by increased drinking which further led to more disheartening feelings that, in turn, led to more drinking. And this is exactly what happened when her husband and she got divorced nine months ago.
When her doctor heard this, he informed Teresa that according to various alcoholism facts and statistics on alcoholism he was examining, alcoholism and depression routinely come about in the same person. He then told Teresa that some of the alcohol statistics, research investigations, and facts he has been studying also stress the fact that individuals who drink in an excessive and irresponsible manner and who also experience depression need to get treatment for both medical conditions.
Teresa’s Healthcare Practitioner Makes an Appointment for a Psychological Appraisal and For an Alcohol Abuse and Alcohol Dependency Appraisal
Teresa’s healthcare professional then told her the following: “I am not trying to make a snap diagnosis, but with your medical condition we may be confronting two separate matters. As a result, I think we ought to schedule an appointment for you to get an alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction assessment from my partner, Dr. Kennard, who is a drug and alcohol abuse specialist. Whether your drinking situation is more related to alcohol abuse or alcohol addiction is unclear, but I feel that further assessment is defensible. Then I feel we ought to make an appointment for you to get a psychological exam from another one of my partners, Dr. Jordan, who is a clinical psychologist. I want to get a better handle on your dejection and see how much your depression and drinking are interlinked.” Teresa showed her approval of her doctor’s “game plan” and thanked him for his help and concern. Now all she had to do was to try to reduce her drinking and wait for her appointments.