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

Larry is a fifteen-year-old teenager who has eventually decided to go and see his family doctor about his careless and excessive drinking.  At first, Larry thought he would be able to simply go online, look for some basic alcohol info, and come to a decision whether or not he was alcohol dependent.

Not surprisingly, he located more than a few websites that outlined some of the common alcoholism symptoms.  That’s the encouraging news.  The less than positive news, regrettably, was that Larry exhibited more than a few of these alcoholism symptoms.

Alcoholism Symptoms: Some Examples

For instance, Larry has been drinking a lot more than normal and he has started to have more heated squabbles with the female he is dating.  Additionally, for the first time in his life he has been suffering through sleeping issues.  Similarly, Larry over and over again has felt depressed and on an escalating basis he has been displaying limited attention to detail in class.  What is more, he has felt stressed out and more uptight on a day-to-day basis and for the past seven or eight months he has shown signs of befuddled thinking in the classroom.  Given that Larry has been exhibiting all of these symptoms, he was excusably concerned about his unhealthy drinking.

So Larry eventually determined that he needed to place a phone call to his healthcare practitioner and schedule an appointment.  Actually, this was rough for Larry because his family healthcare practitioner was also his parents’ doctor.  The springboard for his uneasiness was this: at the risk of embarrassing his family, he had to go and reveal his excessive and careless drinking behavior to his physician.

When Larry arrived at the family doctor’s office, he frankly told the doctor about the consternation he feels about his irresponsible drinking behavior.  When the family healthcare practitioner asked what was triggering this worry, Larry declared that he had gone online and read about alcohol dependency and especially about alcohol dependency symptoms.  He then stated all of the alcohol addiction symptoms that he undoubtedly thought he has.

A Thoroughgoing Physical Appraisal and Outpatient Alcohol Treatment

The physician notified Larry that it was smart of him to deal with his drinking difficulties, he gave Larry an in depth physical evaluation, and recommended that he talk to his Mom and Dad about registering in an out-patient alcohol treatment facility that was supervised by Doctor Katz, one of his doctor associates who is an alcohol abuse and substance abuse specialist.

Moreover, when Larry articulated that he has been feeling a sense of gloom to an increasing extent, the family physician notified Larry that alcoholism and depression regularly come about in the same person.  Consequently, the family physician also suggested that Larry talk to his Mother and Father about obtaining counseling to concentrate on his depression.  In fact, Larry can go to the local mental health center and make an appointment with Doctor Jeffries, an eminent clinical psychologist who specializes in treating teens.

The Merits of Coming To Grips With Your Drinking Problems

The healthcare practitioner made it a point to inform Larry that he might not inevitably be alcohol dependent, but that he was certainly drinking in a hazardous manner.  The doctor then notified Larry that the reason he suggested alcohol rehabilitation in the first place was because he wanted him to face his drinking issues, 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 thoroughly quit drinking.

In brief, by successfully treating his drinking problems, Larry would be able to get his problem drinking under control and quit the negative cycle of events that could in all probability result in addiction to alcohol.

Larry understandably did not look forward to facing his Mother and Father about his excessive drinking and his depression.  And he unquestionably did not want to face the thought of getting registered into an alcohol rehab facility.  And as a final point, he was not elated about going to a counseling psychologist about his depression.  Irrespective of these trepidations, nonetheless, Larry in fact experienced some psychological relief for the first time in many months because he ultimately gave up making excuses for himself and finally made up his mind that he needed to do something affirmative about his excessive and careless drinking.