A Teenager Talks to His Doctor About His Alcohol Problems and His Depression

Larry is a sixteen-year-old teenager who has eventually decided that he needs to go and see his family doctor about his hazardous and excessive drinking.  At first, Larry thought he would be able to merely go on the Internet, look for some fundamental alcohol info, and decide whether or not he was dependent on alcohol.

Not surprisingly, he found numerous websites that highlighted some of the general alcoholism symptoms.  That’s the positive news.  The bad news, regrettably, was that Larry displayed a host of these alcoholism symptoms.

Alcoholism Symptoms: Some Examples

For instance, Larry has been drinking much more than usual and he has begun to have more highly charged arguments with the young girl he is dating.  Moreover, for the first time in his young life he has been suffering through sleeping issues.  Similarly, Larry repeatedly has felt depressed and on an increasing basis he has been exhibiting poor attention to detail at school.  In addition, he has felt stressed out and more on edge on a day-to-day basis and for the past few months he has shown signs of confused thinking in class.  Given that Larry has been exhibiting all of these symptoms, he was excusably nervous about his problem drinking.

So Larry decided to contact his healthcare practitioner and schedule an appointment.  Actually, this was hard for Larry because his family doctor was also his parents’ family healthcare practitioner.  The springboard for his disquiet was this: at the risk of embarrassing his family, he had to go and make known his excessive and careless drinking behavior to his healthcare practitioner.

When Larry arrived at the doctor’s office, he candidly informed the family physician about the apprehension he feels about his excessive drinking behavior.  When the family physician asked what was prompting this anxiety, Larry declared that he had gone on the Internet and read about alcoholism and especially about alcoholism symptoms.  He then listed all of the alcohol dependency symptoms that he evidently thought he exhibits.

A Complete Physical Evaluation and Outpatient Alcohol Rehab

The physician told Larry that it was intelligent of him to tackle his drinking problems, he gave Larry a comprehensive physical examination, and recommended that he talk to his Mom and Dad about entering into an out-patient alcohol rehabilitation program that was managed by Doctor Bodnar, one of his doctor associates who is an alcohol and drug abuse specialist.

Additionally, when Larry stated that he has been feeling depressed more regularly, the family healthcare practitioner notified Larry that alcoholism and depression frequently happen in the same person.  Consequently, the family physician also recommended that Larry talk to his Mother and Father about getting therapy in order to focus on his depression.  In fact, Larry can go to the local mental health center and make an appointment with Doctor Truxton, a celebrated clinical psychologist who specializes in treating teenagers.

The Merits of Dealing With Your Drinking Difficulties

The physician made it a point to inform Larry that he might not necessarily be an alcoholic, but that he was evidently drinking in a hazardous manner.  The healthcare practitioner then informed Larry that the reason he recommended alcohol rehabilitation in the first place was because he wanted him to sort out his drinking difficulties, make sure that he prevented them from escalating, and start to live in a more healthy manner, even if it meant that he had to absolutely stop drinking.

In a nutshell, by productively treating his drinking problems, Larry would be able to get his drinking issues under control and refrain from the negative cycle that could almost certainly lead to alcoholism.

Larry plainly did not look forward to facing his parents about his excessive drinking and his depression.  And he unquestionably did not want to face the thought of enrolling in an alcohol rehabilitation center.  And last of all, he was not elated about going to a therapist about his excessive sadness.  In spite of these fears, nonetheless, Larry actually experienced some emotional relief for the first time in several months because he finally gave up making excuses for himself and decided to do something affirmative about his excessive and careless drinking.

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