Wonderful One

Russ got expelled from high school when he was seventeen years old and eventually found employment at a local office supply manufacturer. For the last five-and-a-half years he has gained a reputation as a hard-working and diligent employee who hardly ever calls off work due to illness.

Roughly seven-and-a-half months ago he started dating a young woman named Emma. They seemed to get along real well immediately and looked like they had a lot of good times with one another.

The Irresponsible and Excessive Drinking Begins

When Russ met Emma, he almost never drank. This circumstance changed when Russ and Emma started seeing each other on a basis. As a matter of fact, their relationship was going fine until Emma called Russ one night approximately 2 AM and said that she had to call off their relationship and that she couldn’t tell him what was going on at that time.

The next morning before he went to work, Russ drove to her apartment and immediately discovered that she had already moved out. Russ took this particularly hard. As a matter of fact, he was astounded because they seemed to be getting along so well.

When Hazardous and Excessive Drinking Leads to Problems at Work

So what did Russ do about Emma? Rather than working through his pain, he began getting intoxicated just about every night. It didn’t take long for his buddies at work or for his supervisor to notice that Russ was coming to work late at least once per week and that he repeatedly called off ill. Moreover, some of his co-workers made an appointment with staff in the HR Department and said that Russ repeatedly came to work with a noticeable smell of alcohol on his clothes or on his breath.

Russ’s supervisor heard about all of this from Human Resources and also from Russ’s co-workers. So one Friday afternoon he called Russ into his office. He told Russ that he had recently noticed a distinct change in his behavior, sick time, work performance, and in his attendance.

When a Supervison Can Motivate an Employee to Get Help For His or Her Abusive and Heavy Drinking

Russ’s supervisor also mentioned that a number of his co-workers reported him to Human Resources because he had been coming to work with a noticeable smell of alcohol. His boss then stated the following: “Russ, your fellow employees are not reporting you to Human Resources to get you into any trouble or because they dislike you but instead because they are concerned about you. And I care too. I don’t want to butt into your life outside this company, but it is evident that you are displaying some of the obvious signs and symptoms of abusive drinking. As a consequence, I want you to go and see a healthcare professional in the employee’s assistance program to discuss your drinking behavior.”

“Russ, I’m no healthcare professional or a psychiatrist, but I have seen several of my friends and relatives suffer through some extremely negative alcohol side effects. Furthermore, I have also witnessed the signs of alcoholism first-hand in my own family. When people have problems with drinking, these problems not only affect the drinker, but they also make an impact on his or her neighbors, relatives, family, co-workers, and friends.”

Russ respected his supervisor very much and as a result followed through with his recommendation the next work day when he called and scheduled an appointment with a healthcare practitioner in the employee’s assistance program.

Russ is Still Depressed But Experiences Some Hope That He Will Get Back on Track With His Life

Even though Russ didn’t automatically feel any better or less depressed about the sadness he still feels for Emma, he felt comfort knowing that his boss and his fellow employees cared about him and wanted what’s best for him. This gave Russ some psychological relief for the first time in several weeks and he actually felt some hope that he would get his life back on track.