Barry used to brag to his pals how he could maintain a challenging and fulltime job and get smashed nearly every night. Regrettably, after involving himself in this “party” lifestyle for just about two-and-a-half years, he started to observe numerous alcohol related difficulties.

Barry Starts to Exhibit Different Alcohol Related Difficulties

For example, he had a very difficult time getting up for work because he felt so worn-out when he awoke. Furthermore, almost every morning Barry suffered from a dreadful hangover. Undoubtedly, the mixture of his lack of energy and his hangovers did not make it easy for him to get up and feel energized to go to work. To make things worse, he just got his second driving under the influence citation in the past year-and-a-half.

To further complicate things, at his place of employment his last two work appraisals were less than acceptable. And finally, his two-and-a-half-year relationship with his girlfriend had deteriorated due to his angry outbursts, financial difficulties, depression, and his lack of patience.

Though Barry was only twenty-three years old, he frankly began looking like he was in his late thirties. Unfortunately, this is what hazardous and irresponsible drinking can do to an individual. And in truth he understood that he was suffering from the adverse consequences of alcohol dependency or alcohol abuse and that he was too young to fritter away his life to abusive and excessive drinking. So at first he tried to drink in moderation. Sadly, he soon realized that he lost all control after having his first drink. Stated somewhat more forcefully, after his first drink he invariably proceeded to get drunk. Since this was an incident that was repeated every single time he drank, this worried him greatly. In truth, he began to wonder if he was displaying some of the signs of alcoholism and alcohol abuse.

Barry Makes up His Mind To Schedule an Appointment to See His Family Doctor

After discussing his excessive alcohol drinking and his excessive and hazardous drinking with his girlfriend, he finally decided to make an appointment to see his healthcare practitioner. When Barry saw his healthcare practitioner, he openly declared that he has been drinking in an abusive manner, that he may be manifesting alcoholic signs, and that he wants to abstain from drinking. He then mentioned that drinking in moderation doesn’t work for him and, consequently, he wants to learn how he can create an alcohol-free lifestyle.

Barry also told his healthcare professional about his depression and how this mental health problem was adversely affecting his relationship with his lady friend. His physician referred Barry to Doctor Mille, an alcohol and drug addiction specialist, who persuaded Barry to enter into a drug and alcohol treatment facility as an in-patient for alcohol detoxification and alcohol rehab. Fortunately, Barry would also be able to get medical treatment for his depression at this treatment center.

Abstaining From Drinking Was the Best Decision Barry Had Ever Made

After four months of intensive treatment intensive rehabilitation, Barry left the in-patient rehab clinic and continued his recovery via outpatient therapy and via going to local Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. Encouraged to change his life in a more productive manner, Barry went to a health store and bought some vitamins and a cookbook. He then joined a fitness center and began working out two or three times per week. Within five months Barry was a new individual. He now looked younger than he was, he wasn’t depressed anymore, he was in shape, he was eating nutritious meals, and most important of all, he remained sober for several months. He also became more patient, he didn’t resort to angry outbursts, and he became a more caring individual in his relationship with his girlfriend. Stated briefly, getting and staying sober was the best decision Barry had ever made.

Stanley started drinking excessively when he was in the eleventh grade. Fortunately for him, although he drank excessively and abusively when he was a teenager and a young adult, when he got beyond the age of twenty-five he almost always drank in moderation.

After he finished his education he eventually found employment at a local steel mill where he applied himself and worked his way up from stock person, to office assistant, to purchasing assistant, to purchasing agent. Unlike his other work positions, as the purchasing manager he often took existing vendors and potential vendors to lunch and to a variety of sporting events.

Although it was not an official part of his job description, meeting with potential vendors and existing vendors often involved circumstances in which alcohol was present. In truth, over the past fourteen months, Stanley had started to appreciably increase his work related and his social drinking. This has resulted in quite a quandary. That is to say, the more successful he became as a purchasing agent, the more heavily he began to drink.

His Increasing Bouts of Depression Also Made Him Question if He Was Becoming an Alcohol Dependent Individual

In fact, it didn’t take very long before Stanley’s careless and hazardous drinking started to negatively affect the money in his savings account, his work efficiency, his health, his relationships, and his mental health. After many weeks of excessive drinking, Stanley, if truth be told, started to get worried about his unhealthy and irresponsible drinking and wondered whether his alcohol related issues were alcoholism signs. Furthermore, his increasing feelings of depression also made him wonder whether he was becoming dependent on alcohol. In a word, Stanley obviously needed to learn more about the facts about alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency.

Stanley Needs Alcohol Detox and Alcohol Rehabilitation For His Alcohol Dependency and a Medical Evaluation Regarding His Depression

So Stanley used his reasoning skills, called his physician, and made an appointment for a complete physical examination. The next week when he saw his physician, Stanley unfortunately was told that he was addicted to alcohol. His healthcare practitioner informed Stanley that he needed to get alcohol detoxification and alcohol treatment for his alcohol addiction and that he also needed to get treatment for his depression. In short, Stanley needed treatment for his alcoholism and depression.

Fortunately After His Treatment For Depression and For Alcohol dependency, He Felt Like a Different Individual

His physician suggested to Stanley that he take a one-month leave of absence from work and get registered into a quality residential alcohol treatment facility where his depression could also be evaluated and treated. This is specifically what Stanley did. The good news is that after his treatment for alcohol dependency and for depression, he felt like a new individual. In actual fact, now that he was living an alcohol-free life he hardly ever got depressed and he now understood how to better manage his relationships, his health, his job, and his finances.

To no one’s amazement, the most challenging “test” Stanley ran into was at work. More specifically, he still took potential vendors and his existing vendors to lunch and to various sporting events, but after his alcohol rehabilitation he was able to stay away from drinking while entertaining his clients.

It can be emphasized that Stanley also learned that none of his existing vendors or potential vendors thought any less of him because of his alcohol-free lifestyle. Conversely, he found out that his existing vendors and potential vendors respected him for staying strong to his convictions.

After Stanley went through alcohol treatment, however, he discovered that he was an individual who for whatever reason, couldn’t drink in moderation. In point of fact he learned the hard way that if he abstained from drinking, all of the other significant parts of his life would be fortified. Every once-in-a-while, Stanley missed drinking, but the better finances, health, relationships, and the better work performance he experienced more than offset his love of drinking.