A Woman Exhibits Signs Of Alcoholism And Depression And Makes An Appointment To See Her Healthcare Practitioner About Her Irresponsible And Hazardous Drinking And Her Need For Alcohol Detoxification

Teresa was a thirty-two-year-old speech pathologist who realized that she had a problem with her drinking. As an illustration, within the past seven months she has experienced the need to have a few drinks before going to work, four weeks ago she failed a random blood alcohol test where she is employed, two months ago she got arrested by the state highway patrol for a DUI, and finally, for about three months she has begun to forget what she says and does when she drinks.

Like multitudes of other drinkers, Teresa’s involvement with alcohol began little by little and continued at this level of involvement for quite a long period of time because once in a “blue moon” she engaged in occasional social drinking. In point of fact, for approximately seven months, every time she went out to drink, she made sure to drink moderately. Something about her drinking activities, however, seemed to radically change when she got divorced.

In Order To Overcome the Breakup of Her Husband In a More Trouble-Free Manner, Teresa Decided to Begin Hanging Around More Frequently With Some of Her Buddies Who Love to Drink and Have Fun

Teresa got extremely gloomy about the divorce from her husband, and as a way to quit obsessing about her dismal feelings she determined that she would begin hanging out more often with some of her friends who love to drink.

Quite forthrightly, Teresa truly believed that having fun nearly every day by partying and drinking with her buddies would help her get over the breakup of her husband in a more pain free manner.

Stress, Time, and Anger Management Difficulties

Teresa also thought that drinking and partying with her buddies would help her steer clear of her stress, anger, and time management difficulties.

Teresa’s Drinking Increases Considerably the More Often She Goes to Happy Hours, Dinner Dates, Private Parties, Sporting Events, and Family Get-Togethers With Her Friends

It didn’t take long, however, before her drinking escalated substantially the more frequently she went to and drank at sporting events, happy hours, private parties, dinner dates, and family get-togethers with her buddies. Moreover, the fact that her drinking pals were all quite a bit younger than she was and therefore able to drink and party more thoughtlessly was one of the reasons why she didn’t center more of her attention on her increased drinking. In brief, she was having fun drinking just like everybody else in her group of pals without spending a lot of time thinking about the results of her abusive drinking.

Yet somewhere in her awareness she knew that she most likely required alcohol rehab but steered clear of the thought as much as humanly possible.

Teresa Gets a Physical Exam, Owns Up to the Facts About Her Abusive and Hazardous Drinking to Her Doctor, and Admits Her Melancholy

One late afternoon 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 commonly drinks more than she should. In actual fact, she articulated that she frequently drinks in an excessive and abusive manner. Then Teresa informed her doctor about her sadness. More precisely, she articulated that shattered relationships frequently caused a disheartening progression of events typified by increased drinking which further resulted in more depressing feelings that, in turn, led to more drinking. And this is explicitly what took place when her husband and she got divorced two years ago.

When her healthcare professional heard this, he told Teresa that according to various alcoholism facts and statistics on alcoholism he was examining, alcoholism and depression frequently occur in the same person. He then told Teresa that some of the alcohol statistics, research investigations, and facts he has been studying also underscore the fact that individuals who drink in an irresponsible and hazardous manner and who also suffer from depression need to receive treatment for both medical situations.

Teresa’s Physician Makes an Appointment for a Psychological Assessment and For an Alcohol Dependency and Alcohol Abuse Evaluation

Teresa’s healthcare professional then told her the following: “I am not trying to make a snap diagnosis, but with your medical circumstances we may be working with two separate problems. As a consequence, I think we need to make an appointment for you to get an alcohol dependency and alcohol abuse assessment from my partner, Dr. Franks, who is an alcohol addiction specialist. Keep in mind that you may require alcohol detoxification.  Whether your drinking situation is more linked to alcohol addiction or alcohol abuse is not clear at this time, but I feel that further assessment is required. Then I feel we ought to make an appointment for you to get a psychological examination from another one of my partners, Dr. Cooke, who is a psychologist. I want to get a better handle on your sadness and see how much your drinking and depression are interlinked.” Teresa expressed her approval of her doctor’s treatment plan and thanked him for his help and concern.

Teresa Confronts the Conflict and the Sexuality Difficulties When She Was Married

In all honesty, Teresa now felt a sense of personal self esteem and happiness because she finally became inspired to do something positive about her abusive and excessive drinking and her depression. What is more, Teresa also knew that after alcohol treatment she would be better able to manage the sexuality issues and the conflict when she was married. Now all she had to do was to try to trim down on her drinking and wait for her appointments.