A Woman Displays Signs Of Alcoholism And Depression And Makes An Appointment To See Her Doctor
Cindy was a thirty-five-year-old accountant who realized that she had some drinking issues. As an illustration, within the past seven months she has experienced the need to have quite a few drinks before going to work, two months ago she tested positive for a blood alcohol test at her place of employment, seven weeks ago she got arrested by the state highway patrol for a DUI, and last but not least, for the last six months she has begun to fail to remember what she says and does when she drinks with her friends.
Like multitudes of other people, Cindy's involvement with alcohol began gradually and remained at this speed for quite some time due to the fact that once in a "blue moon" she engaged in sporadic social drinking. As a matter of fact, for nearly ten months, 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 fundamentally change when she and her husband got divorced.
Cindy got exceedingly "down" about the loss of her husband, and as a way to refrain from fixating on her dismal emotions she made up her mind that she would start going out more routinely with some of her pals who love to have fun and drink. It didn't take too long, nonetheless, before her drinking escalated to a significant extent the more frequently she went to and drank at private parties, sporting events, happy hours, family get-togethers, and dinner dates with her buddies.
In brief, she was drinking and having tons of fun just like everybody else in her group of buddies without much forethought about the alcohol short term effects and particularly about the alcohol long term effects she has been manifesting. Yet somewhere in her awareness she knew about the adverse alcohol effects on the body and on the mind and that she most likely required alcohol counseling but stayed away from the thought as much as she could.
One late afternoon during her yearly physical, her healthcare professional asked her if she drank alcohol. Not wanting to tell "stories" to her healthcare practitioner, Cindy owned up to the truth that she routinely drinks more than she should. As a matter of fact, she articulated that she commonly drinks in an excessive and abusive manner. Then Cindy told her healthcare professional about her constant negativity. More explicitly, she articulated that wrecked relationships frequently started a discouraging sequence of events typified by increased drinking which further led to more discouraging feelings that, in turn, resulted in even more drinking. And this is explicitly what took place when her husband and she got divorced eight months ago.
Cindy's healthcare professional then stated the following: "I am not trying to make a sudden analysis, but with your medical circumstances e may be working with two separate problems. As a consequence, I think we probably need to schedule an appointment for you to get an alcohol addiction and alcohol abuse evaluation from my partner, Dr. Petroff, who is an alcohol addiction and alcohol abuse specialist."
"Whether your drinking situation is more linked to alcohol dependency or alcohol abuse is unknown at this time, but I feel that further assessment is defensible. Then I think we need to schedule an appointment for you to get a psychological evaluation from another one of my partners, Dr. Katz, who is a counseling psychologist."
"I need to get some more insights about your dejection and see how much your depression and drinking are associated." Cindy expressed her endorsement of her healthcare practitioner's treatment plan and thanked him for his time and assistance.