Roughly six months ago I had breakfast with a thirty-one-year-old male named Alexander who experiences severe depression, has relationship difficulties, and who is drug and alcohol dependent. As explained by Alexander, it is his drug and alcohol dependency and his acute depression that had the most to do with his perpetual relationship difficulties.
I remember reading that a history of mental health problems, drug addiction, and negative drinking many times occur in the same family. Additionally, I have read that under such circumstances, an individual needs to get counseling for both medical problems and that addiction and mental health difficulties tend to occur in the same person.
As affirmed by Alexander, he is so overcome by his relationship problems and by both of his medical problems that he essentially has no motivation to achieve much of anything. What is particularly sad about this is that earlier in his life, Alexander managed to finish four semesters of grad school in Spanish history.
Alexander’s situation makes me wonder if he is an example of a person who can address his drug abuse and alcohol drinking problems and do something healthy about these difficulties or if he is someone who has to hit the very bottom before he gets alcohol and drug addiction counseling that leads to long lasting recovery.
The Need For a Rehab Program He Can Believe In and a Physician He Can Trust
If it would be beneficial I would think that I could recommend more than a few websites and blogs that could possibly help him locate info about drug abuse symptoms, the stages of alcoholism, substance abuse information, and relationship difficulties. In my humble opinion, however, Alexander needs to find a counseling regimen he can believe in and follow through over the long term and locate a physician he can trust.
I could be mistaken but it seems to me that Alexander more likely than not needs to look within himself regarding his drug addiction signs and alcoholic symptoms and understand the fact that he cannot abuse drugs or even drink in moderation if he wants to get sober, stay sober, and start on the road to lasting sobriety.
It may be asked how therapy would help his alcohol and drug dependency. For starters, there are quite a few recently created physician-prescribed drugs that can help Alexander avoid an alcohol or a drug relapse, help him through the alcohol and drug detox process, and help him through his withdrawal symptoms.
Second, Alexander would learn to understand the fact that there is utterly nothing healthy about substance abuse and excessive and hazardous drinking and that messing around with one or both circumstances is the map to legal problems, poor work and school performance, shattered relationships, financial difficulties, deteriorating health, and possibly a premature death.
Third, counseling for his relationship issues and his depression might help him manage these medical conditions more effectively and perhaps create less of a need for him to involve himself in addictive behavior.
The Importance of Recovery Groups Such as Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous
There are probably quite a few friends, family members, and other people who would love to help Alexander with his substance abuse and his abusive and careless drinking. He more likely than not would experience greater acceptance from a support group such as Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous, then again, instead of getting advice from people who drink responsibly or who have never abused drugs.
When Individuals Do Things They Like and About Which They Are Zealous
There’s a philosophical attitude that stresses that people who accomplish things they love and something about which they are zealous reach a fantastic place in life. Stated more exactly, when people do what they love, they rarely if ever go through an uneventful life or boredom. If they get involved in something that is satisfying, furthermore, they become more whole and experience more pleasure and delight in life and in their relationships.
When this is thought about for a short while it becomes clear that this positive outlook is poles apart from a life that is centered in substance abuse because such a lifestyle removes the pleasure and joy that life has to offer.
Because Alexander lacks the fortitude to succeed at doing much of anything in his life, it is apparent that he definitely needs some hope for a more productive existence. And the unfortunate thing is that hope is all around Alexander if he could only get to the point in life to get the counseling he requires for his mental illness and drug addiction and alcohol dependency and stay with his treatment program.
More Solid Relationships, Positive Change, Self Esteem, and a Wonderful Life Are a Reality
Alexander is clearly too young to be crushed in life. He doesn’t realize this at the moment but if he can learn how to abstain from drugs and alcohol through drug and alcohol therapy and get the counseling he requires for his severe depression, he can reorient his life and start living with direction, self-respect, and passion.
Better relationships, positive change, self esteem, and a wonderful life are certainly a reality for Alexander if only he could become motivated to get the medical treatment he requires, follow through with his treatment regimen, live his life in a healthy and addiction-free way, and learn how to acquire a more positive attitude about his life.
Popularity: 2% [?]
