A Young Gentleman Needs Therapy For His Intense Depression, Relationship Issues, and For His Drug Addiction and Alcoholism

About a year ago I had breakfast with a forty-three-year-old man named Alexander who experiences severe depression, has relationship issues, and who is drug and alcohol dependent. As declared by Alexander, it is his drug and alcohol addiction and his acute depression that had the most to do with his endless relationship problems.

I recollect hearing that a history of mental health problems, substance abuse, and careless drinking routinely occur in the same family. In addiction, I have read that under such circumstances, an individual needs to get treatment for both medical situations and that dependency and mental health difficulties often occur in the same person.

As affirmed by Alexander, he is so overcome by his relationship problems and by both of his medical conditions that he essentially has little or no ambition to achieve much of anything. What is particularly unfortunate about this is that earlier in his life, Alexander managed to complete two semesters of graduate school in criminal justice.

Alexander’s circumstance makes me wonder if he is an example of an individual who can address his drug abuse and alcohol drinking problems and do something positive about these issues or if he is an individual who has to hit life’s bottom before he gets alcohol and drug addiction rehab that results in long-term sobriety.

The Need For a Counseling Regimen He Can Believe In and a Psychologist He Can Trust

If it would be beneficial I would assume that I could suggest quite a few websites and blogs that could possibly help him locate info about drug abuse symptoms, the stages of alcoholism, chemical dependency information, and relationship issues. In my humble opinion, however, Alexander needs to locate a rehabilitation protocol he can believe in and follow through over the long haul and locate a psychologist he can trust.

I could be wrong but it seems to me that Alexander more likely than not needs to look honestly at his life regarding his drug addiction signs and alcoholic symptoms and acknowledge the fact that he cannot use drugs or even drink in moderation if he wants to get sober, remain sober, and start on the path to long-lasting sobriety.

It may be asked how therapy would help his drug and alcohol dependency. For starters, there are some recently developed doctor-prescribed meds that can help Alexander through the alcohol and drug detoxification process, through his withdrawal symptoms, and help him avoid an alcohol or a drug relapse.

Second, Alexander would learn to concede the fact that there is completely nothing helpful about chemical dependency and excessive and abusive drinking and that messing around with one or both situations is the route to legal problems, shattered relationships, financial difficulties, a premature death, deteriorating health, and poor work and school performance.

Third, therapy for his relationship problems and his depression might help him manage these conditions more successfully and perhaps create less of a need for him to involve himself in addictive behavior.

The Importance of Recovery Groups Such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous

There are more likely than not numerous other individuals, friends, and family members who would like to help Alexander with his substance abuse and his abusive and hazardous drinking. He more likely than not would experience greater understanding from a recovery group such as Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous, however, rather than getting advice from individuals who drink in moderation or who have never abused drugs.

When People Do Things They Love and About Which They Are Passionate

There’s a school of thought in psychology that emphasizes that individuals who do things they like and something about which they are dedicated arrive at a great place in life. Stated more clearly, when people do what they enjoy, they rarely if ever go through boredom or an uneventful life. If they get involved in something that is satisfying, what is more, they become more complete and experience more gratification and joy in life and in their relationships.

When this is thought about even for a few minutes it becomes clear that this positive state of mind is quite a bit different from a life that is centered in alcohol and drug dependency because such a lifestyle removes the pleasure and joy that life has to offer.

Since Alexander doesn’t have the fortitude to accomplish much of anything in his life, it is obvious that he urgently needs some hope for a healthier lifestyle. And the unfortunate thing is that hope is all around Alexander if he could only get to the place in life to get the therapy he requires for his mental illness and dependency and remain in his treatment protocol.

Enhanced Relationships, A Wonderful Life, Self Esteem, and Beneficial Change Are Possibilities

Alexander is clearly too young to be dejected in life. He doesn’t comprehend this at the moment but if he can learn how to stay away from alcohol and drugs via alcohol and drug rehab and get the treatment he needs for his severe depression, he can reorient his life and start living with self-respect, direction, and passion.

Better relationships, beneficial change, self respect, and a meaningful life are certainly possibilities for Alexander if only he could become motivated to seek the professional rehab he needs, follow through with his therapy regimen, live his life in a healthy and alcohol and drug-free manner, and learn how to develop a more positive attitude about his life.