Teresa was a forty-three-year-old loan officer who knew that she had some problems with her drinking. For example, within the past four months she has felt the need to have more than a few drinks before going to work, a week ago she failed to pass a random hair alcohol test where she is employed, four weeks ago she got arrested by the state highway patrol for “driving under the influence”, and finally, for around two months she has started to forget what she says and does when she goes out drinking.

Like huge numbers of other drinkers, Teresa’s experiences with alcohol started out at a “snail’s pace” and continued at this pace for quite a long period of time due to the fact every so often she engaged in occasional social drinking. As a matter of fact, for almost six months, every time she went out with her friends to drink, she made sure to drink in a responsible manner. Something about her drinking activities, nevertheless, seemed to completely change when she got divorced from her husband.

In Order To Get Beyond the Divorce of Her Husband In a More Uncomplicated Manner, Teresa Determined That She Will Begin Palling Around More Repeatedly With Some of Her Buddies Who Love to Whoop it Up and Drink

Teresa got awfully dejected about the divorce from her husband, and as a way to refrain from dwelling on her negative emotions she determined that she would start hanging around more regularly with some of her buddies who love to drink.

Quite forthrightly, Teresa believed that having fun almost every day by getting “mellow” and drinking with her friends would help her overcome the loss of her husband in a less wearisome manner.

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

It didn’t take very long, nonetheless, before her drinking escalated substantially the more routinely she went to and drank at dinner dates, family get-togethers, sporting events, happy hours, and private parties with her pals. Moreover, the fact that her drinking pals were all quite a bit younger than she was and therefore able to party more intensely was one of the reasons that she didn’t allocate more of her attention to her increased drinking. In a word, she was drinking and having a lot of fun just like everybody else in her group of buddies without giving too much consideration about the outcome of her hazardous and irresponsible drinking.

Yet somewhere in the recesses of her mind she knew that she more likely than not needed alcohol rehabilitation but avoided the thought as much as she could.

Teresa Gets a Physical Exam, Acknowledges Her Hazardous and Abusive Drinking to Her Physician, and Discloses the Truth About Her General State of Gloom

One day during her annual physical, her healthcare professional asked her if she drank alcohol. Not wanting to lie to her healthcare professional, Teresa ”came clean” and said that she commonly drinks more than she should. In actual fact, she said that she regularly drinks in a hazardous manner. Then Teresa told her healthcare professional about her melancholy. More precisely, she stated that wrecked relationships commonly triggered a dismal progression of events typified by increased drinking which further led to more discouraging feelings that, in turn, led to more drinking. And this is specifically what happened when she and her husband got divorced six months ago.

When her healthcare practitioner heard this, he told Teresa that according to various facts and statistics on alcoholism he has been exploring, alcoholism and depression commonly come about in the same person. He then informed Teresa that some of the alcohol statistics, facts, and research investigations he has been looking into also point out that individuals who drink excessively and who also go through depression need to obtain treatment for both medical circumstances.

Teresa’s Healthcare Practitioner Schedules an Appointment for a Psychological Assessment and For an Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Assessment

Teresa’s healthcare practitioner then told her the following: “I am not trying to make a snap analysis, but with your medical condition we may be facing two separate problems. As a consequence, I think we ought to schedule an appointment for you to get an alcoholism and alcohol abuse evaluation from my partner, Dr. Truxton, who is an alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction specialist. Whether your drinking situation is more related to alcoholism or alcohol abuse is unclear at this time, but I believe that further assessment is needed. Then I think we probably should schedule an appointment for you to get a psychological assessment from another one of my partners, Dr. Brosky, who is a clinical psychologist. I want to get some more information about your sadness and see how much your depression and drinking are associated.” Teresa showed her endorsement of her healthcare professional’s treatment plan and thanked him for his help and concern. Now all she had to do was to try to reduce her drinking and get ready for her appointments.