Heather is a sixty-four-year-old woman who is the top administrator in the human resources department at a large silver molding company. To help reduce the costs correlated with excessive sick days, increasing absenteeism, poor employee work performance, employee alcoholism and alcohol abuse, and work related injuries, Heather and the other members of upper management instituted a number of programs that made the work atmosphere substantially more productive, healthy, and safe.
For example, fourteen years ago Heather and the other company leaders instituted an Employee’s Assistance Program so that all the workers had access to first-rate counseling for their personal problems that could negatively influence their personal well-being, health, and their work performance.
Top Management Constructs a State-of-the-Art Exercise and Workout Room Complete With Exercise Equipment, Scales, a Professional Trainer During Business Hours, Mirrors, Weights, and Exercise Charts
As another illustration, about eight years ago Heather and the other company executives erected a forward-looking exercise and workout room complete with weights, many different types of exercise equipment, a professional trainer during business hours, exercise charts, mirrors, and scales.
Moreover, just about five years ago Heather and the other members of upper management invested in a purification system that filters all the drinking water that is accessible in the building. In a similar way, three years ago, Heather and the other VIPs started a “walking club” that is basically intended for workers who want to work on their cardiovascular system.
The Company Executives Launch a Weight-Watchers Class and Employ a Weight-Loss Trainer to Manage the Program
As another example, about two years ago, Heather and the other members of top management put into operation a “Weight-Watchers” class that presently meets every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 4:30 PM until 5:50 PM. Furthermore, top management employed a weight-loss professional to oversee the program.
In the same way, two years ago Heather and the other members of top management instituted a “Stop Smoking Club” for workers who want to refrain from smoking.
In the last nine months, in conjunction with the Employee’s Assistance Program, Heather and the other company leaders initiated an “Anger Management” class for workers who want to learn how to better manage their anger issues.
The VIPs Initiate a Drug and Alcohol Testing Program
In the last three-and-a-half months, Heather and the other company executives put into operation a drug and alcohol testing program that is related to their drug and alcohol abuse prevention program. In actual fact, Heather is the key person in the company responsible for getting the message out to all the employees about the drug and alcohol testing program as well as the drug and alcohol abuse prevention program.
One of the main elements of the drug and alcohol abuse prevention program is a class entitled “Alcoholism and Depression” that meets every Wednesday after work. The main idea with this class is informing workers that abusive drinking and depression many times occur in the same person. It is hoped that comprehending this information will be able to help a person address both medical problems and get the alcohol rehabilitation and mental health therapy he or she needs.
Top Management Initiates an Alcohol Statistics and Facts Class
Another fairly recent enhancement to the drug and alcohol abuse prevention program is a class entitled “Alcohol Statistics and Facts.” The rationale behind this alcohol statistics and facts class is the reality that many individuals fail to appreciate the full impact of the results of alcohol abuse and alcoholism without first learning about some of the alcohol abuse and alcoholism facts and statistics that are available. Consequently, one of the objectives of this class is to provide various alcoholism and alcohol abuse facts and statistics to help workers gain a better realization of the host of problems that are linked to excessive and abusive drinking and how they can prevent these difficulties from coming about.
Most recently, Heather and the other company leaders, via comments from employees, developed a class that focuses directly on severe drinking entitled “What is Alcoholism”? This what is alcoholism class meets every Thursday morning an hour before work and focuses largely on the differences between alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency and the different kinds of rehab that are available for people who drink in an abusive manner.
Although every single one of these preventative maintenance and health programs was relatively expensive, top management reasons that they are several thousands of dollars ahead by providing all of their employees with healthy, more productive, and safe working conditions.
Mail this postTeresa was a forty-five-year-old insurance agent who knew that she had some drinking issues. For example, within the past month she has felt the need to have a drink or two before going to work, four months ago she failed to pass a random urine alcohol test where she works, five weeks ago she got stopped by the police for a DWI, and finally, for going on six months she has started to fail to remember what she says and does when she goes out drinking with her friends.
Like hosts of other people, Teresa’s experiences with alcohol began gradually and stayed at this speed for quite a long time due to the fact once in a “blue moon” she engaged in intermittent social drinking. In truth, for about four years, every time she drank, she made sure to drink in moderation. Something about her drinking behavior, nevertheless, seemed to completely change when she got divorced.
So She Can Come to Terms With the Divorce of Her Husband With Less Grief, Teresa Came to the Conclusion That She Will Start Hanging Around More Repeatedly With Some of Her Pals Who Love to Have Fun and Drink
Teresa got exceedingly “down” about the loss of her husband, and as a way to refrain from dwelling on her negative emotions she determined that she would start hanging around more often with some of her buddies who love to have fun and drink.
Quite forthrightly, Teresa believed that having fun almost every day by partying and drinking with her pals would help her get beyond the divorce of her husband with less grief.
Teresa’s Drinking Escalates Significantly the More Habitually She Goes to Private Parties, Family Get-Togethers, Dinner Dates, Sporting Events, and Happy Hours With Her Buddies
It didn’t take long, however, before her drinking escalated to a significant degree the more routinely she went to and drank at family get-togethers, sporting events, happy hours, dinner dates, and private parties with her pals. Moreover, the fact that her drinking friends were all quite a few years younger than she was and therefore able to drink and party more thoughtlessly was one of the reasons that she didn’t concentrate more on her increased drinking. In a word, she was drinking and having fun just like everyone else in her group of friends without much forethought about the negative effects of her hazardous and irresponsible drinking.
Yet somewhere in her awareness she knew that she probably needed alcohol counseling but stayed away from the thought as much as possible.
Teresa Gets a Physical Examination, Discloses the Facts About Her Excessive Drinking to Her Healthcare Practitioner, and Discloses the Truth About Her Depression
One afternoon during her annual physical, her doctor asked her if she drank alcohol. Not wanting to lie to her healthcare practitioner, Teresa acknowledged that she regularly drinks more than she should. In fact, she said that she commonly drinks in a hazardous manner. Then Teresa told her healthcare professional about her sadness. More specifically, she stated that shattered relationships usually elicited a negative cycle of events characterized by increased drinking which further resulted in more discouraging feelings that, in turn, led to more drinking. And this is explicitly what happened when she and her husband got divorced three months ago.
When her doctor heard this, he told Teresa that according to various facts and statistics on alcoholism he has been exploring, alcoholism and depression routinely arise in the same person. He then told Teresa that some of the alcohol statistics, facts, and research investigations he has been reading about also underscore the fact that people who drink in a hazardous and abusive manner and who also experience depression need to get treatment for both medical circumstances.
Teresa’s Healthcare Practitioner Schedules an Appointment for a Psychological Assessment and For an Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Evaluation
Teresa’s healthcare professional then told her the following: “I am not trying to make an impulsive analysis, but with your medical condition we may be facing two separate problems. As a consequence, I think we should make an appointment for you to get an alcohol abuse and alcoholism assessment from my partner, Dr. Warner, who is a substance abuse and chemical dependency specialist. Whether your drinking circumstance is more related to alcoholism or alcohol abuse is not clear at this time, but I think that further exploration is needed. Then I feel we probably should schedule an appointment for you to get a psychological exam from another one of my partners, Dr. Myers, who is a clinical psychologist. I want to get a better understanding about your pessimism and see how much your drinking and depression are interrelated.” Teresa displayed her agreement with her healthcare practitioner’s strategy and thanked him for his time and assistance. Now all she had to do was to try to cut back on her drinking and get ready for her appointments.
Mail this postLarry decided to go and see his family physician about his unhealthy drinking. At first, Larry thought he would be able to simply go on the world wide web, look for some fundamental alcohol info, and come to a decision whether or not he was an alcoholic. Not surprisingly, he located more than a few websites that spelled out some of the general alcoholism symptoms. That’s the encouraging news. The less than positive news, sadly, was that Larry manifested a host of these alcoholism symptoms.
Alcohol Dependency Symptoms Revisited
As an illustration, Larry was drinking quite a bit more than usual and he was beginning to have more angry quarrels with the young lady he was dating. Moreover, for the first time in his life he was suffering through sleeping issues. If this wasn’t enough, Larry over and over again felt depressed and on an escalating basis he had been manifesting poor attentiveness while at work.
Furthermore, he felt highly stressed and more jumpy on a day-to-day basis and for the past three or four months he displayed cloudy thinking at his place of work. Seeing as Larry manifested all of these symptoms, he was justifiably uneasy about his abusive drinking.
So Larry eventually made up his mind that he needed to call his doctor and make an appointment. As it happens, this was challenging for Larry because his doctor was also his parents’ healthcare professional. The source of his anxiety was this: at the risk of embarrassing his family, he had to go and reveal his irresponsible and excessive drinking behavior to his family physician.
When Larry arrived at the healthcare professional’s office, he openly told the family physician about the fear he felt about his abusive drinking behavior. When the healthcare practitioner asked what was inducing this fear, Larry acknowledged that he had gone on the world wide web and read about alcohol dependency and especially about alcoholism symptoms. He then outlined all of the alcohol addiction symptoms that he evidently thought he exhibited.
A Comprehensive Physical Assessment and Outpatient Alcohol Rehabilitation
The doctor notified Larry that it was intelligent of him to deal with his drinking difficulties, he gave Larry an in depth physical appraisal, and suggested that he sign into an out-patient alcohol rehab facility that was supervised by one of his doctor associates.
What is more, when Larry articulated that he had been feeling gloom to a greater extent, the family physician notified Larry that alcoholism and depression often take place in the same person. Thus, the family physician also suggested that Larry obtain counseling to concentrate on his despair.
The Advantage of Handling Your Drinking Problems
The family doctor made it a point to tell Larry that he might not inevitably be addicted to alcohol, but that he was certainly drinking in a careless manner. The physician then notified Larry that the reason he suggested alcohol rehabilitation in the first place was because he wanted him to confront his drinking problems, make sure that he prevented them from worsening, and start to live in a more healthy manner, even if it meant that he had to completely refrain from drinking.
Everything considered, by successfully treating his problem drinking, Larry would be able to get his drinking issues under control and abstain from the negative series of events that could possibly result in alcohol dependency.
Undoubtedly, Larry did not want to face the thought of getting admitted into an alcohol rehabilitation facility. Nor was he thrilled about going to a therapist about his melancholy. Notwithstanding these apprehensions, alternatively, Larry in point of fact experienced some emotional relief for the first time in numerous months because he eventually gave up making excuses for himself and finally made up his mind to do something constructive about his drinking behavior.
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