Teresa was a thirty-year-old travel agent who knew that she had some problems with her drinking. As an illustration, within the past five months she has experienced the need to have more than a few drinks before going to work, two months ago she tested positive for a urine alcohol test where she works, six weeks ago she got stopped by the police for “driving under the influence,” and last but not least, for the past five months she has begun to forget what she does and says when she goes out drinking with her friends.

Like huge numbers of other drinkers, Teresa’s experiences with alcohol began slowly and remained at this level for quite a long time due to the fact from time to time she engaged in sporadic social drinking. In point of fact, for about four years, every time she went out to drink, she made sure to drink responsibly. Something about her drinking behavior, nonetheless, seemed to completely change when her husband divorced her.

In Order To Endure the Breakup of Her Husband In a Less Wearisome Manner, Teresa Decided to Begin Associating More Often With Some of Her Pals Who Love to Drink and Have Fun

Teresa got dreadfully depressed about the breakup with her husband, and as a way to stop her preoccupation with her depressing feelings she came to the conclusion that she would begin hanging around more regularly with some of her friends who love to drink and have fun.

Quite sincerely, Teresa figured that having fun just about every day by getting a “buzz” by drinking with her friends would help her come to terms with the divorce of her husband with less misery.

Stress, Anger, and Time Management Problems

Teresa also thought that getting an alcohol “buzz” with her friends would help her avoid her stress, anger, and time management difficulties.

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

It didn’t take too long, however, before her drinking escalated significantly the more frequently she went to and drank at family get-togethers, sporting events, happy hours, dinner dates, and private parties with her friends. In addition, the fact that her drinking friends were all quite a bit younger than she was and therefore able to party and drink harder and more frequently was one of the reasons why she didn’t focus more on her increased drinking. In short, she was drinking and having fun just like everybody else in her group of friends without much forethought about the unhealthy effects of her hazardous and abusive drinking.

Yet somewhere in the recesses of her brain she knew that she probably required alcohol treatment but sidestepped the thought as much as humanly possible.

Teresa Gets a Physical Examination, Discloses the Truth About Her Excessive and Irresponsible Drinking to Her Physician, and Discloses the Truth About Her General State of Despair

One late afternoon during her six-month physical exam, her doctor asked her if she drank alcohol. Not wanting to tell falsehoods to her healthcare practitioner, Teresa ”came clean” and said that she regularly drinks more than she should. In actual fact, she stated that she regularly drinks in an excessive and irresponsible manner. Then Teresa informed her physician about her constant negativity. More explicitly, she stated that shattered relationships frequently generated a disheartening progression of events characterized by increased drinking which further resulted in more negative feelings that, in turn, resulted in more drinking. And this is explicitly what happened when she and her husband got divorced four years ago.

When her healthcare practitioner heard this, he informed Teresa that according to various alcoholism facts and statistics on alcoholism he was investigating, alcoholism and depression frequently come about in the same individual. He then informed her that some of the alcohol statistics, facts, and research investigations he has been looking into also emphasize the fact that individuals who drink in a hazardous and excessive manner and who also experience depression need to obtain treatment for both medical circumstances.

Teresa’s Doctor Makes an Appointment for a Psychological Assessment and For an Alcohol Dependency and Alcohol Abuse Appraisal

Teresa’s physician then said the following: “I am not trying to make a snap diagnosis, but with your medical situation we may be working with two separate issues. As a result, I think we probably should make an appointment for you to get an alcohol abuse and alcoholism appraisal from my partner, Dr. lessie, who is an alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency specialist. Whether your drinking problem is more related to alcoholism or alcohol abuse is unknown, but I believe that further assessment is defensible. Then I feel we should schedule an appointment for you to get a psychological exam from another one of my partners, Dr. Rudnick, who is a psychologist. I want to get a better grip on your depression and see how much your drinking and depression are related.” Teresa expressed her endorsement of her healthcare professional’s treatment approach and thanked him for his help and concern.

Teresa Finds Out How to Enhance Her Intimate and Loving Relationships and Friendships

In truth, Teresa now experienced 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. Not only this, but Teresa also realized that after alcohol rehab she would be more able to enhance her intimate and loving relationships and friendships. Now all she had to do was to try to reduce her drinking and wait for her appointments.