A Woman Exhibits Symptoms of Depression and Alcohol Dependency and Makes an Appointment to See Her Doctor About Her Excessive and Hazardous Drinking
Teresa was a forty-one-year-old graphic designer who knew that she had a problem with her drinking. As an illustration, within the past six months she has felt the need to have one or two drinks before going to work, four months ago she failed a random hair alcohol test where she is employed, two weeks ago she got pulled over by the police for “driving under the influence”, and last but not least, for the last two months she has started to forget what she says and does when she drinks with her buddies.
Not unlike multitudes of other drinkers, Teresa’s involvement with alcohol started out little by little and continued at this level of involvement for quite some time due to the fact every so often she engaged in occasional social drinking. In actual fact, for nearly seven months, every time she drank, she made sure to drink responsibly. Something about her drinking situation, however, seemed to thoroughly change when she got divorced from her husband.
So She Can Endure the Loss of Her Husband In a More Trouble-Free Manner, Teresa Came to a Decision That She Will Start Hanging Out More Repeatedly With Some of Her Buddies Who Love to Have Fun Drinking
Teresa got dreadfully disheartened about the divorce from her husband, and as a way to stop dwelling on her depressing emotions she arrived at a decision that she would begin hanging out more often with some of her buddies who love to have fun drinking.
Quite honestly, Teresa reasoned that having fun almost every day by partying and drinking with her pals would help her rise above the divorce of her husband in a more trouble-free manner.
Teresa’s Drinking Escalates Considerably the More Frequently She Goes to Sporting Events, Private Parties, Happy Hours, Dinner Dates, and Family Get-Togethers With Her Pals
It didn’t take very long, nonetheless, before her drinking escalated substantially the more frequently she went to and drank at private parties, happy hours, sporting events, dinner dates, and family get-togethers with her buddies. Moreover, the fact that her drinking buddies were all younger than she was and therefore able to drink harder and longer was one of the reasons that she didn’t center more of her attention on her increased drinking. To put it briefly, she was drinking and having fun just like everyone else in her group of pals without spending a lot of time thinking about the outcome of her hazardous drinking.
Yet in the recesses of her mind she knew that she more likely than not needed alcohol counseling but steered clear of the thought as much as possible.
Teresa Gets a Physical Examination, Owns up to the Truth About Her Excessive and Abusive Drinking to Her Doctor, and Discloses the Truth About Her Depression
One day during her yearly physical, her physician asked her if she drank alcohol. Not wanting to tell “stories” to her healthcare practitioner, Teresa acknowledged that she routinely drinks more than she should. In reality, she articulated that she regularly drinks in an abusive and hazardous manner. Then Teresa informed her healthcare professional about her depression. More explicitly, she articulated that shattered relationships frequently caused a negative cycle of events characterized by increased drinking which further led to more depressing feelings that, in turn, led to even more drinking. And this is exactly what happened when she and her husband got divorced seven months ago.
When her doctor heard this, he informed Teresa that according to various alcoholism facts and statistics on alcoholism he was reviewing, alcoholism and depression often come about in the same person. He then informed Teresa that some of the alcohol statistics, research investigations, and facts he has been reading about also stress the fact that individuals who drink in an excessive and irresponsible manner and who also suffer from 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 Evaluation
Teresa’s doctor then articulated the following: “I am not trying to make a sudden judgment, but with your medical situation we may be working with two separate matters. Consequently, I think we need to make an appointment for you to get an alcohol abuse and alcoholism appraisal from my partner, Dr.
Alessie, who is an alcohol and drug abuse specialist. Whether your drinking circumstance is more linked to alcohol abuse or alcoholism is not clear at this time, but I think that further evaluation is reasonable. Then I think we probably should make an appointment for you to get a psychological assessment from another one of my partners, Dr. Gordon, who is a clinical psychologist. I want to get a better grip on your dejection and see how much your drinking and depression are interlinked.” Teresa expressed her approval of her doctor’s line of attack and thanked him for his help and concern. Now all she had to do was to try to cut back on her drinking and get ready for her appointments.