Barry got suspended from high school when he was seventeen years old and eventually got a job at a local machine shop. For the last seven-and-a-half years he has earned a reputation as a hard-working and diligent individual who hardly ever takes off from work because of illness.
Nearly six-and-a-half months ago he began going out with a young woman named Carol. They seemed to get along real well right away and looked like they had a lot of fun with one another.
When Barry met Carol, he rarely drank. This situation totally changed when they began dating on a fairly regular basis. As a matter of fact, their relationship was going fine until Carol surprisingly called Barry one night roughly 3 AM and told him that she had to call off their relationship and that she couldn't explain the reason at that moment.
The next morning before he went to work, Barry drove to her apartment and found out right away that Carol had already moved out. Barry received this news really hard. In truth, he was dismayed because they seemed to be getting along so very well.
So what did Barry do about Carol's leaving? Rather than working through his pain and suffering, he started getting intoxicated nearly every night. It didn't take very long for his coworkers and for his manager to notice that Barry was coming to work late at least three times per week and that he continually called off sick. Furthermore, some of the workers made an appointment with staff in the HR Department and stated that Barry frequently came to work with a strong odor of alcohol on his clothes or on his breath.
Barry's boss heard about all of this from Human Resources and also from Barry's fellow employees. So one Friday afternoon he called Barry into his office. He mentioned to Barry that he had recently noticed a clear-cut change in his attendance, behavior, work performance, and in his sick time.
"Barry, I'm not an expert about alcohol facts and I'm not especially all that knowledgeable about alcoholism facts, but I have personally seen several of my relatives and friends experience some really terrible difficulties because of their hazardous and heavy drinking. My suggestion is that you take time and learn more facts about alcohol and what alcoholism and alcohol abuse can do to an individual."
"Why is this significant? When individuals involve themselves in irresponsible and hazardous drinking, their drinking issues not only negatively affect the alcohol abuser, but they also adversely impact her or his neighbors, co-workers, relatives, family, and friends. Barry, in sum, I would like to see you get some help for your hazardous and abusive drinking from our employee's assistance program."
Barry admired his boss quite a lot and as a result followed through with his recommendation the very next day when he called and made an appointment with a therapist in the company's employee's assistance program. Although Barry didn't automatically feel any better or less depressed about the hurt he still has about Carol, he felt some reassurance knowing that his manager and his co-workers wanted what's best for him and cared about him. This gave him some psychological relief for the first time in several weeks and he honestly felt some hope that he would get his life back on track.
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