Teresa was a forty-one-year-old fashion designer who realized that she had some drinking issues. As an illustration, within the past month she has felt the need to have quite a few drinks before going to work, five weeks ago she tested positive for a urine alcohol test at work, four months ago she got stopped by the state highway patrol for a DUI, and last but not least, for roughly three months she has begun to forget what she says and does when she goes out drinking with her buddies.

Not unlike hosts of other people, Teresa’s alcohol involvement began slowly and stayed at this pace for quite some time because every now and then she engaged in occasional social drinking. As a matter of fact, for nearly three years, every time she went out with her buddies to drink, she made sure to drink in a responsible manner. Something about her drinking circumstances, however, seemed to completely change when she got divorced.

In Order To Endure the Divorce of Her Husband In a Less Wearisome Manner, Teresa Came to a Decision That She Will Start Associating More Routinely With Some of Her Friends Who Love to Whoop it Up and Drink

Teresa got very despondent about the breakup with her husband, and as a way to stop obsessing about her dismal emotions she determined that she would begin associating more often with some of her pals who love to whoop it up and drink.

Quite forthrightly, Teresa believed that having fun just about every day by drinking with her buddies would help her overcome the loss of her husband in a less troublesome manner.

Stress, Anger, and Time Management Problems

Teresa also thought that drinking and partying with her pals would help her stay away from her time, anger, and stress management difficulties.

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

It didn’t take very long, nevertheless, before her drinking escalated to a significant extent the more frequently she went to and drank at happy hours, family get-togethers, private parties, sporting events, and dinner dates with her friends. Moreover, the fact that her drinking friends were all quite a bit younger than she was and therefore able to drink more thoughtlessly was one of the reasons that she didn’t focus more on her increased drinking. To be brief, she was drinking and having fun just like everyone else in her group of friends without giving too much thought to the consequences of her irresponsible and excessive drinking.

Yet someplace in her brain she knew that she most probably required alcohol rehab but stayed away from the thought as much as humanly possible.

Teresa Gets a Physical Exam, Owns up to the Truth About Her Hazardous and Irresponsible Drinking to Her Healthcare Professional, and Owns Up to the Truth About Her General State of Despair

One day during her yearly physical exam, her doctor asked her if she drank alcohol. Not wanting to tell falsehoods to her healthcare professional, Teresa ”came clean” and stated that she frequently drinks more than she should. In fact, she articulated that she frequently drinks in a hazardous manner. Then Teresa informed her healthcare practitioner about her constant negativity. More specifically, she mentioned that broken relationships many times initiated a dismal cycle of events characterized by increased drinking which further led to more negative feelings that, in turn, led to even more drinking. And this is exactly what happened when she and her husband got divorced four months ago.

When her physician heard this, he told Teresa that according to various alcoholism facts and statistics on alcoholism he was researching, alcoholism and depression commonly occur in the same person. He then told Teresa that some of the alcohol statistics, research investigations, and facts he has been reading about also underscore the fact that people who drink in an abusive and excessive manner and who also experience depression need to obtain treatment for both medical conditions.

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

Teresa’s doctor then articulated the following: “I am not trying to make a sudden judgment, but with your medical condition we may be facing two separate issues. Consequently, I think we probably should schedule an appointment for you to get an alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency appraisal from my partner, Dr. Poulos, who is an alcohol addiction specialist. Whether your drinking situation is more linked to alcohol abuse or alcoholism is unclear, but I think that further evaluation is needed. Then I believe we probably should schedule an appointment for you to get a psychological exam from another one of my partners, Dr. Frankel, who is a counseling psychologist. I want to get a better read on your dejection and see how much your depression and drinking are intertwined.” Teresa showed her approval of her physician’s “game plan” and thanked him for his help and concern.

Teresa Manages the Conflict and the Sexuality Issues When She Was Married

In truth, Teresa now felt a sense of personal happiness and self esteem because she finally got inspired to do something constructive about her abusive drinking and her depression. What is more, Teresa also realized that after alcohol rehabilitation she would be more 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.