Temporary Child Custody

For the past twenty-three years Jenny has been a nurse at a small rural hospital. In addition she has also been teaching Sunday school at the local Baptist Church. Although she lived in a small country town where it seemed like every person knew everyone’s business, very little was known about Jenny. For sure almost every person in town knew that she had worked numerous years as a nurse practitioner and that she taught Sunday school for as long as she was a resident of their town. Other than that, nonetheless, it almost appeared as if Jenny was simply a visitor in their town.

You can visualize the commotion that was created when it was revealed that one Sunday morning Jenny had lost consciousness because of excessive drinking. Indeed, the article in the neighborhood daily paper claimed that Jenny not only became unconscious, but that she also was arrested for driving while drunk due to the fact that her blood alcohol level was significantly higher than the legal limit for intoxication. This is obviously one of the alcohol effects on the body that no Sunday school teacher wants to have publicized by the entire town. But this is specifically what happened, much to the disappointment of Jenny.

Jenny Gets Very Distraught About Her DUI

Obviously, Jenny was extremely depressed about her arrest for driving while intoxicated. Not only should she have known better about driving while intoxicated because of her nursing profession, but she also should have held herself accountable to a more lofty benchmark because of the simple fact that she taught Sunday school.

After her DWI arrest, Jenny was tempted to move out of town so that she would not have to feel unhappy about her arrest and also so she wouldn’t have to go over her actions for the five hundred thousandth time to the people in town. After meeting with her reverend, then again, she made up her mind that she would get alcohol rehab at a local alcohol rehabilitation hospital. She did this for two precise reasons. First, it was relatively easy for her to drive to a local rehabilitation clinic. And second, she frankly wanted the word to get circulated among all the individuals in town that she was truly addressing her excessive and hazardous drinking.

Jenny Goes Through Detox and Gets an Extensive Exam

After Jenny went through detoxification, she was extensively checked by a doctor at the rehabilitation facility. She then underwent a couple of laboratory procedures where it was verified that she was not an alcoholic but rather was involving herself in abusive and irresponsible drinking. In a word Jenny was engaging in long term alcohol abuse.

Jenny was provided with the option of getting alcohol treatment as a residential patient or getting alcohol rehab as an outpatient. Jenny, nonetheless, believed that she could still work as a licensed practical nurse and continue with her Sunday school teaching job if she were to be registered as an out-patient and this is precisely what she did.

According to her rehab plan, Jenny went to two treatment sessions every two weeks, she learned quite a lot about alcohol info, she worked on her homework “projects,” she got treatment for her depression and other mental health issues, and she learned how to involve herself doing things in life that did not have anything to do with drinking.

After twenty weeks, Jenny thought that her abusive drinking was under control and so she got released from the drug and alcohol rehab center under the specification that she would return for follow up treatment once every three months for the next nine months. Jenny agreed and followed through on her “promise.”

Jenny Makes up Her Mind to Abstain From Any and All Drinking Situations and Discovers That Her Sense of Worth Increases

After she went through her rehab Jenny reasoned that she would be able to drink more responsibly and in moderation. After pondering her situation for a short while, then again, she concluded that she would absolutely abstain from any and all drinking circumstances.

When Jenny arrived at this determination, she learned that her positive attitude about herself became stronger the more she was in charge of her life. And as her self-respect grew more pronounced, it seemed like she became more gregarious and began attending more local events such as local high school basketball and football games, music festivals, carnivals, Christmas tree lighting ceremonies, flower festivals, rib roasts, and strawberry festivals. Jenny also began to develop longer lasting relationships and friendships for the first time since she was in high school.

Jenny Addresses Her Abusive and Hazardous Drinking, Makes up Her Mind To Do Something Constructive About It, and Rediscovers Her Faith

Over time, the individuals in the town exhibited more affection for Jenny because she was involving herself with them more routinely and also because she addressed her careless and abusive drinking and made up her mind to do something beneficial about it. It may have been her imagination, but it also seemed as if her Sunday school students showed more respect and admiration for her.

Jenny is a living illustration of someone who faced a serious issue and who did something positive about it. She is also a person who found out that her religious faith is not only something that is intrinsic, but that it is also something that affects the way in which an individual interrelates with other people.

About seven weeks ago I met a twenty-five-year-old woman named Rachael who is bipolar and who is also dependent on drugs and alcohol. I remember hearing that in such situations, a person needs to get treatment for both medical situations and that mental health issues and chemical dependency commonly take place in the same person. Additionally, I remember reading that a history of unhealthy and abusive drinking, drug addiction, and/or mental health concerns frequently take place in the same family.

Evidently, Rachael is so overwhelmed by both of her medical conditions and her relationship difficulties that she in essence has little or no reason to accomplish much of anything. What is particularly unfortunate about this is that earlier in her life, Rachael finished three-and-a-half-years of college. Rachael’s circumstance makes me wonder if she is an illustration of an individual who has to hit the bottom of the barrel before he or she gets alcohol and drug addiction treatment that leads to lasting sobriety.

The Need For a Physician She Trusts and a Rehab Regimen She Can Believe In

If I were in contact with Rachael I could suggest a number of websites and blogs that could possibly help her locate information about addiction and alcoholic behavior, pertinent chemical dependency information, facts about alcoholism and drugs, info about addiction symptoms and alcoholism warning signs, and relationship information. In my honest opinion, however, Rachael needs to locate a therapist she trusts and a treatment regimen she can believe in and follow over the long haul. I could be in error but it seems to me that Rachael more likely than not needs to acknowledge the fact that she cannot drink responsibly or abuse drugs if she wants to get sober, stay sober, and start on the path to long-term recovery.

I am aware that there are quite a few recently discovered physician-prescribed medications that can help Rachael through her withdrawal symptoms, through the alcohol and alcohol detox process, and help her avoid a drug or an alcohol relapse. Clearly it would be in Rachael’s best interests if she learned about these meds.

It is apparent that Rachael needs to acknowledge the fact that there is utterly nothing productive about excessive and careless drinking and chemical dependency and that engaging in one or both circumstances is the map to a premature death, shattered relationships, deteriorating health, legal problems, financial difficulties, and poor work and school performance.

The Relevance of Support Groups Like Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous

There are probably a lot of persons such as family members, other individuals, and friends who would want to help Rachael but she more likely than not would experience greater understanding from a recovery group such as Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous rather than listening to people who drink just a few times per year or who have never taken drugs.

When People Accomplish Things They Like and About Which They Are Dedicated

There’s a psychological attitude that affirms that individuals who do things they love and something about which they are passionate arrive at a fantastic place in life. Stated more specifically, when people do what they love, they hardly ever go through boredom or an uneventful life. If they involve themselves in something that is satisfying, moreover, they become more complete and experience more contentment and delight in life and in their relationships.

To me, this sounds diametrically opposed to a life that is centered in alcohol and drug addiction because such a lifestyle removes the contentment and joy that life has to offer.

Because Rachael doesn’t have the fortitude to succeed at doing much of anything in her life, it is apparent that she definitely needs some hope for a better existence. And the sad thing is that hope is almost everywhere around Rachael if she could only get to the point in life to get the counseling she requires for her manic depression and chemical dependency and remain in her treatment protocol.

More Meaningful Relationships, A Wonderful Life, Self Esteem, and Positive Change Are Possibilities

Rachael is simply too young to be crushed in life. She doesn’t realize this at the moment but if she can learn how to abstain from drugs and alcohol through alcohol and drug rehab and get the counseling she requires for her bipolar issue, she can redirect her life and start living with direction, passion, and with self-respect.

Stronger relationships, a meaningful life, self esteem, and positive change are certainly possibilities for Rachael if only she could get inspired to seek the medical rehab she needs, follow through with her treatment protocol, live her life in a drug and alcohol-free and healthy way, and acquire a more positive attitude about life.

It took several years but Emily at long last made up her mind that she had it with her husband’s hazardous and excessive drinking. She was exhausted from seeing Barry come home after midnight from drinking instead of spending time with the family. She was also sick of the second DUI Barry recently got. In addition she was sick and tired of generating excuses for her spouse when he couldn’t make it to work due to his problems with drinking. In a similar manner she was nervous about the fact that their relationship was crumbling due to Barry’s hazardous drinking. And lastly she was sick and tired of the insecure financial quandary into which he had placed his family because of his unhealthy and abusive drinking behavior.

When Irresponsible Drinking Inspires a Person to do Something Productive About an Individual’s Problem Drinking

One Friday evening when Emily was reflecting on what she could do about her husband’s unhealthy and abusive drinking, she got to the point that she frankly had to do something constructive to cut into the damaging cycle of Barry’s hazardous drinking behavior.

So she looked online under “alcohol rehab” and discovered more than a few rehab clinics that were all located less than 45 miles away from where she and her husband lived.

Because she didn’t know much at all about these rehab facilities, she finally determined that she needed to call some of them and ask some pertinent questions. When she called each treatment facility she introduced herself and stated that Barry, her spouse, was involved in hazardous and abusive drinking behavior. She also articulated that Barry, her spouse, had a top-rate health insurance program at his job and that residential or outpatient alcohol treatment would be covered if a doctor in the company health network initiated the rehab.

At one rehabilitation clinic, Emily was pleasantly surprised that she was able to speak directly with a healthcare professional who suggested that she come to the rehabilitation facility to discuss her husband’s abusive and unhealthy drinking behavior in more detail.

Emily Talks to a Psychologist About Her Husband’s Excessive and Abusive Drinking

When Emily arrived at the rehabilitation facility, she filled out some required forms and then after approximately five or ten minutes got to see a physician.

After listening to Emily go over her husband’s unhealthy and excessive drinking, the psychologist in a compassionate but resolute manner explained to Emily how she probably played a part in her spouse’s abusive drinking through the years by making excuses for him rather than letting him go through the outcomes of his hazardous drinking behavior.

Emily Discovers She Has Been Enabling Her Husband’s Excessive and Abusive Drinking

Stated another way, the physician stated to Emily that she may have been unintentionally enabling Barry’s hazardous drinking behavior. The physician also stressed the fact that while Emily would not be able to control her husband’s behavior, with the guidance and encouragement of the rehabilitation team at the healthcare clinic she would not only be able to learn how to avoid contributing to Barry’s hazardous drinking but she could also learn how to encourage him to make an appointment at the rehab facility so that he could go over his abusive and unhealthy drinking behavior with a doctor.

Fortunately after Emily discussed this with her husband, and he saw that she was serious, Barry told her that he had been extremely apprehensive about his abusive drinking behavior and that he was somewhat thankful to learn that Emily wanted to do something constructive about his abusive and unhealthy drinking behavior. As a result, he made an appointment to see a physician at the local alcohol rehabilitation clinic.

Barry Agrees to See a Healthcare Professional About His Hazardous and Careless Drinking

While simply calling a treatment clinic does not mean that a person’s unhealthy and abusive drinking behavior will end or that one’s warning signs of alcoholism or the alcohol abuse signs one manifests will simply fade away, calling for an appointment is without a doubt a compulsory component in the rehab process. And due to the fact that Barry was serious about getting rehab for his hazardous and abusive drinking, the likelihood of a successful recovery was greatly enhanced.