A Boss Helps a Worker Tackle His Depression and His Excessive and Abusive Drinking After a Shattered Relationship

Russ dropped out of high school when he was sixteen years old and eventually got a job at a local water treatment facility. For the past nine-and-a-half years he has gained a reputation as a conscientious and hard-working person who infrequently calls off work due to illness.

The Likelihood of Marriage

Just about four months ago he started going out with a young woman named Emma. They seemed to get along real well immediately and looked as if they had a lot of good times with one another. In fact, they got along so well that they began talking about getting married.

The Abusive Drinking Begins

When Russ met Emma, he rarely drank. This circumstance totally changed when Russ and Emma started seeing each other on a fairly usual basis. In truth, their relationship was going great until Emma called Russ one night roughly 3 AM and said that she had to call off their relationship and that she couldn’t tell him the reasons for her decision at that moment.

The next morning before he went to work, Russ drove to her apartment and found out right away that she had already moved out. Russ took this extremely hard. In fact, he was dismayed because they seemed to be getting along so very well.

When Excessive and Hazardous Drinking Leads to Work Problems

So what did Russ do? Instead of working through his pain and suffering, he started getting drunk almost every night. It didn’t take long for his buddies at work or for his boss to notice that Russ was coming to work late at least twice per week and that he often called off ill. Furthermore, some of his fellow employees made an appointment with staff in Human Resources and said that Russ frequently came to work with a noticeable smell of alcohol on his breath or on his clothes.

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

When a Boss Can Encourage an Employee to Get Help For His or Her Irresponsible and Heavy Drinking

Russ’s supervisor also mentioned that a number of his fellow employees reported him to Human Resources because he had been coming to work with the strong odor of alcohol. His supervisor then stated the following: “Russ, your fellow employees are not reporting you to the HR Department to get you into trouble or because they don’t like you but rather because they care about you. And I care too. I don’t want to meddle with your business, but it seems very clear that you are manifesting some of the well known symptoms and signs of alcohol abuse. As a consequence, I want you to go and see a therapist in the employee’s assistance program to discuss your drinking circumstance and your depression.”

“Russ, I’m no medical doctor or a counselor, but I have seen more than a few of my friends and relatives experience some very bad alcohol side effects. Furthermore, I have also seen the signs of alcoholism first-hand in my own family. When people have problems with drinking, these issues 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 supervisor quite a lot and consequently followed through with his recommendation the next work day when he called and scheduled an appointment with someone in the employee’s assistance program.

Russ Begings to Experience a Positive Attitude, Self Esteem, Personal Happiness, and Some Success for the First Time in Quite a Few Months.

Even though Russ didn’t automatically feel any better or less depressed about the sadness he still feels for Emma, he felt some reassurance knowing that his supervisor and his co-workers wanted what’s best for him and cared about him. This gave Russ some psychological relief for the first time in more than a few months and he frankly felt some hope that he would get his life back on track. In fact, Russ started to feel personal success, happiness, self esteem, and a positive attitude for the first time in more than a few months.