A Supervisor Helps an Employee Address His Depression and His Heavy and Abusive Drinking After a Destroyed Relationship
21st March 2010 by Depressed No CommentsRuss got expelled from high school when he was fifteen years old and eventually got a job at a local water treatment facility. For the past seven-and-a-half years he has gained a reputation as a reliable and hard-working person who rarely calls off work due to illness.
Approximately three months ago he started going out with a young lady named Emma. They seemed to hit it off right away and looked like they had a lot of good times with one another.
The Abusive and Heavy Drinking Begins
When Russ met Emma, he rarely drank. This totally changed when Russ and Emma began seeing one another on a fairly usual basis. In fact, their relationship was going fine until Emma called Russ one night roughly 3 AM and said that she had to breakup and that she couldn’t explain the reason at that moment.
The next morning before he went to work, Russ went to her apartment and found out almost immediately that Emma had already moved out. Russ took this exceptionally hard. In fact, he was surprised because they appeared to be getting along so well.
When Excessive and Hazardous Drinking Leads to Work Problems
So what did Russ do about Emma’s leaving? Rather than working through his misery and pain, he began getting drunk nearly every night. It didn’t take long for his coworkers or for his manager to notice that Russ was coming to work late at least three times per week and that he again and again called off sick. Not only this but some of his fellow employees made an appointment with staff in Human Resources Department and said that Russ often 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 fellow employees. So one Monday afternoon he asked Russ to come into his office. He told Russ that he had recently noticed a definite change in his attendance, work performance, sick time, and in his behavior.
When a Supervison Can Motivate an Employee to Get Help For His or Her Abusive and Irresponsible Drinking
Russ’s manager also articulated that a number of his co-workers reported him to Human Resources because he had been coming to work with the strong smell of alcohol. His supervisor then stated the following: “Russ, your co-workers are not reporting you to Human Resources to get you into trouble or because they dislike you but instead because they care about you. And I am concerned too. I don’t want to interfere with your business, but it is obvious that you are exhibiting some of the normal symptoms and signs of abusive drinking. Consequently, I want you to go and see a healthcare professional in the employee’s assistance program to discuss your drinking and your depression.”
“Russ, I’m no healthcare professional or a therapist, but I have seen quite a few of my friends and relatives suffer through some extremely negative alcohol side effects. Not only this but I have also seen the signs of alcoholism first-hand in my own family. When individuals experience problems with drinking, these difficulties not only affect the drinker, but they also make an impact on his or her family, co-workers, friends, relatives, and neighbors.”
Russ respected his boss a lot and consequently followed through with his suggestion the very next day when he called and scheduled an appointment with someone in the employee’s assistance program.
Russ is Still Depressed But Feels Some Hope That He Will Get His Life Back on Track
Even though Russ didn’t necessarily feel any better or less depressed about the sorrow he still has about 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 emotional relief for the first time in a number of weeks and he honestly felt some hope that he would get his life back on track.
