Teresa was a forty-seven-year-old travel agent who knew that she had a problem with her drinking. For example, within the past two months she has felt the need to have a drink or two before going to work, six weeks ago she failed a random breathalyzer test at work, three months ago she got stopped by the state highway patrol for a DUI, and lastly, for the last six months she has begun to forget what she does and says when she goes out drinking with her pals.

Similar to other individuals, Teresa’s alcohol involvement started out slowly and remained at this pace for quite a long period of time due to the fact every once in a while she engaged in occasional social drinking. In reality, for nearly a year, every time she went out with her coworkers to drink, she made sure to drink in moderation. Something about her drinking situation, nonetheless, seemed to completely change when she divorced her husband.

In Order To Rise Above the Breakup of Her Husband In a More Trouble-Free Manner, Teresa Decided to Start Going Out More Regularly With Some of Her Friends Who Love to Drink

Teresa got dreadfully down in the dumps about the loss of her husband, and as a way to refrain from obsessing about her disheartening emotions she determined that she would begin palling around more repeatedly with some of her buddies who love to have fun and drink.

Quite frankly, Teresa believed that having fun just about every day by drinking and partying with her buddies would help her recover from the loss of her husband in a more trouble-free manner.

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

It didn’t take too long, nevertheless, before her drinking escalated to a significant extent the more routinely she went to and drank at family get-togethers, sporting events, happy hours, dinner dates, and private parties with her buddies. Moreover, the fact that her drinking buddies were all quite a few years 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. In short, she was drinking and having lots of fun just like everybody else in her group of buddies without much forethought about the consequences of her drinking behavior.

Yet somewhere in the recesses of her mind she knew that she more likely than not required alcohol treatment but sidestepped the thought as much as she could.

Teresa Gets a Physical Examination, Admits Her Excessive and Hazardous Drinking to Her Physician, and Owns Up to the Truth About Her Constant Negativity

One day during her yearly physical exam, her doctor asked her if she drank alcohol. Not wanting to tell falsehoods to her doctor, Teresa admitted that she often drinks more than she should. In reality, she stated that she regularly drinks in an abusive and excessive manner. Then Teresa told her doctor about her general state of gloom. More plainly, she articulated that ruined relationships frequently started a depressing sequence of events characterized by increased drinking which further led to more discouraging feelings that, in turn, resulted in more drinking. And this is specifically what took place when she and her husband got divorced two years ago.

When her doctor heard this, he informed Teresa that according to various alcoholism facts and statistics on alcoholism he was investigating, alcoholism and depression often arise in the same person. He then told Teresa that some of the alcohol statistics, facts, and research investigations he has been studying also underscore the fact that individuals who drink in an abusive and excessive manner and who also experience depression need to receive treatment for both medical situations.

Teresa’s Doctor Schedules an Appointment for a Psychological Appraisal and For an Alcohol Abuse and Alcohol Addiction Evaluation

Teresa’s healthcare professional then said the following: “I am not trying to make an impulsive judgment, but with your medical condition we may be dealing with two separate matters. Consequently, I think we ought to schedule an appointment for you to get an alcohol abuse and alcoholism evaluation from my partner, Dr. Abrams, who is an alcohol abuse and substance abuse specialist. Whether your drinking situation is more linked to alcohol abuse or alcohol addiction is unclear at this time, but I feel that further exploration is justifiable. Then I feel we probably should schedule an appointment for you to get a psychological evaluation from another one of my partners, Dr. Miller, who is a clinical psychologist. I want to get some additional information about your dejection and see how much your drinking and depression are related.” Teresa expressed her endorsement of her healthcare practitioner’s strategy and thanked him for his assistance and concern. Now all she had to do was to try to trim down on her drinking and wait for her appointments.

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