Teresa was a forty-six-year-old travel agent who knew that she had a drinking problem. For example, within the past seven months she has felt the need to have a few drinks before going to work, four months ago she failed a random breathalyzer test at her place of employment, four weeks ago she got arrested by the state highway patrol for a DWI, and finally, for almost five months she has started to forget what she says and does when she drinks.
Similar to many other people, Teresa’s involvement with alcohol started out little by little and remained at this level of involvement for quite a long period of time due to the fact every so often she engaged in occasional social drinking. If truth be told, for around eight months, every time she went out with her coworkers to drink, she made sure to drink moderately. Something about her drinking activities, however, seemed to fundamentally change when she got divorced.
So She Can Recover From the Divorce of Her Husband More Painlessly, Teresa Came to a Decision That She Will Start Palling Around More Regularly With Some of Her Pals Who Love to Party
Teresa got very dejected about the breakup with her husband, and as a way to refrain from her preoccupation with her disheartening emotions she determined that she would start hanging out more routinely with some of her pals who love to have fun and drink.
Quite forthrightly, Teresa thought that having fun nearly every day by getting “mellow” and drinking with her buddies would help her recover from the divorce of her husband more rapidly.
Stress, Anger, and Time Management Problems
Teresa also thought that partying and drinking with her buddies would help her avoid her anger, time, and stress management problems.
Teresa’s Drinking Increases Significantly the More Routinely She Goes to Dinner Dates, Happy Hours, Family Get-Togethers, Sporting Events, and Private Parties With Her Friends
It didn’t take long, however, before her drinking escalated significantly the more often she went to and drank at family get-togethers, happy hours, private parties, dinner dates, and sporting events with her buddies. What is more, the fact that her drinking pals were all much younger than she was and therefore able to party more irresponsibly was one of the reasons why she didn’t focus more on her increased drinking. In brief, she was drinking and having fun just like everybody else in her group of friends without too much deliberation regarding the negative consequences of her excessive and hazardous drinking.
Yet somewhere in her brain she knew that she most likely required alcohol treatment but avoided the thought as much as humanly possible.
Teresa Gets a Physical Exam, Owns up to the Truth About Her Abusive and Hazardous Drinking to Her Doctor, and Acknowledges Her Melancholy
One afternoon during her six-month physical exam, her healthcare practitioner asked her if she drank alcohol. Not wanting to tell “stories” to her healthcare practitioner, Teresa owned up to the fact that she routinely drinks more than she should. If truth be told, she said that she frequently drinks in an irresponsible manner. Then Teresa told her doctor about her dejection. More plainly, she articulated that broken relationships many times initiated a disheartening chain of events typified by increased drinking which further resulted in more depressing feelings that, in turn, resulted in even more drinking. And this is exactly what took place when she and her husband got divorced five months ago.
When her healthcare professional heard this, he told Teresa that according to various alcoholism facts and statistics on alcoholism he was exploring, alcoholism and depression many times take place in the same person. He then told Teresa that some of the alcohol statistics, facts, and research investigations he has been looking into also underline the fact that people who drink in an excessive manner and who also suffer from depression need to obtain treatment for both medical circumstances.
Teresa’s Doctor Makes an Appointment for a Psychological Assessment and For an Alcohol Abuse and Alcohol Addiction Appraisal
Teresa’s healthcare professional then stated the following: “I am not trying to make an unprepared analysis, but with your medical condition 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 alcoholism evaluation from my partner, Dr. Jefferson, who is an alcohol and drug abuse specialist. Whether your drinking problem is more related to alcohol abuse or alcohol dependency is unknown at this time, but I believe that further assessment is justifiable. Then I feel we need to make an appointment for you to get a psychological exam from another one of my partners, Dr. Kanter, who is a clinical psychologist. I want to get a better grip on your melancholy and see how much your drinking and depression are related.” Teresa showed her approval of her healthcare practitioner’s plan of attack and thanked him for his help and concern.
Teresa Faces the Conflict and the Sexuality Difficulties When She Was Married
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 excessive and abusive drinking and her depression. What is more, Teresa also realized that after alcohol rehabilitation she would be more able to address the sexuality problems and the conflict when she was married. Now all she had to do was to try to decrease her drinking and get ready for her appointments.