Jay has flunked from his first year of college and is involved in a lot of drinking which interfere with his ambition of becoming a chemical engineer. He does not want to come for psychological treatment of his problems because of clear denial that he has a problem. Despite that, Jay was born normally with no complications at birth and during labor. He met all his developmental milestones early and was described as an advanced baby. Jay reportedly excelled in school with needing very little effort to maintain a straight ‘A’ report card even in the gifted and talented program. He is a bright boy from a family of bright people. The father is a neurosurgeon while the mother is a research scientist. They both displayed behaviors of alcoholism at some point in their lives. They used to have heavy drinking patterns until they stopped for the sake of their son. Current Status:
Jay is a heavy drinker. Jay does admit to blackouts, drinking more than he intends to, and does seem to recognize that many of his friends have similar drinking patterns as he does. Jay states that currently he drinks a 12 pack or more on the weekends. He qualified this by stating his friends help him drink the beer. He does admit that his weekends are sometimes start on Thursdays and does not end until Mondays. He states that he does not believe his drinking is the issue with his grades in college. He states he just gets bored in classes and his professors don't really know as much as they think they do. He states sometimes he just does not feel like going to class because it is "dumb".Indicators of Use/Abuse/Dependency:
Jay neglects his responsibilities in school. This is one of the key indicators of alcohol use, abuse, and dependency. He is known to be a very bright boy with the ability to attain high scores at any test. He can attain straight ‘A’ with little effort even at a gifted and talented program. However, he recently flunked in his first year. This is an indication that he neglects his responsibilities in school. Even though he admits that alcohol does not affect his school work, it is clear that he gets bored in school as a result, he resorts to alcohol. At home he also shows lack of responsibility.
Secondly he uses alcohol in physically dangerous situations such as driving while drunk. He once towed his car and lost his driving license due to drunken driving. This is a show of irresponsibility. It takes a lot of responsibility to keep a car at an early age of 16.
The third indicator is the fact that he continues to drink despite drinking causing problems to his relationship with family and girlfriend. The girlfriend left him because he hangs around his drinking buddies a lot. He also does not have a good relationship with his folks because of his drinking problem.
Fourthly, he spends a lot of money on alcohol. He admits to consume 12 packs of bear in a weekend. This cannot be substantive because his weekends are normally extended. They can begin on Thursday and end on Monday. Attitude and Behavior of:
Most alcoholics lose their sense of responsibility towards others and towards themselves. For most of them, they sink into the problem without the knowledge and awareness of it. Other people see the problem, but they cannot see what is going on. This is the same case for Jay. He fails to realize what is going on with his life. He is gradually showing dependency on alcohol as he drinks every weekend with his friends. He spends a lot of money on alcohol and can hardly engage in responsible use of money. He says that he is given money with the parents but his money never lasts until the end of the month. Social Functioning of:
Jay states that currently he drinks a 12 pack or more on the weekends. He qualified this by stating his friends help him drink the beer. He does admit that his weekends are sometimes starts on Thursdays and does not end until MondaysOccupational Functioning of:
He states that he does not believe his drinking is the issue with his grades in college. He states he just gets bored in classes and his professors don't really know as much as they think they do. He states sometimes he just does not feel like going to class because it is "dumb"Financial Aspects of:
Jay is given what many would consider to be a lot of money for his age. He is given 1000 dollars a month for pocket money. This amount is equivalent to or even more than the salaries of many workers. He admits that this amount never lasts until the end of the month despite spending 300 dollars on alcohol per month. Familial Relationships of:
Jay has had a good relationship with the family. He attended AA classes with both parents. His major complain about his parents is that they do not give him enough money for use. Legal History of:
Jay has once been arrested because of his drinking. The only issue he has ever had with law enforcement is cancelation of his driving license after towing his car and being charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. However, he started drinking at an early age which the laws consider to be illegal. Health History of:
Jay was born normally with no complications at birth and during labor. He met all his developmental milestones early and was described as an advanced baby. Jay reportedly excelled in school with needing very little effort to maintain a straight ‘A’ report card even in the gifted and talented program. He is a bright boy from a family of bright people. The father is a neurosurgeon while the mother is a research scientist.Spiritual History of:It is not indicated whether Jay has a spiritual history. Diagnostic Impression:
Denial is the biggest problem with alcoholics. They do not see that they have a problem despite the fact that it is quite evidence in the eyes of others. Honesty is the step alcoholics need to take in order to over the vice. There is need for jay to view his behaviors from the angle of others observing his life from the outside. Jay shows a lot of aggression and irritation when someone talks about his drinking problem. He refuses to accept that drinking is leading to his academic problems. He refuses to accept that he lost his driving license of his irresponsible behavior 2 weeks after his 16th birthday party. He was charged with drinking under the influence of alcohol leading to the cancelation of his license. He instead says that his parents are overreacting because he has several friends that have lost their license.
Jay needs to listen to his emotions sot that the next time someone asks him about his drinking problem he can know how he reacts. If he gets hot and angry, then he needs to ask himself why. Jay also has a click of friends that are likely to put his life in danger and vice versa. He has gotten a DUI and is likely to get another if he fail to control his addiction to alcohol.
Jay has also shown signs of losing money. He does not know where his money goes. He cannot provide an account of every cent he gets from his parents and always complains that what he is given is not sufficient. This is a clear sign of alcoholism. His drinking habit is vividly hurting his finances. It is negatively impacting not only his finances but also other important parts of his life. This puts him at the risk of being an alcoholic.
Jay may also be showing signs of becoming an alcoholic because of the fact that he flunks in class. Even though he says that his lecturers are boring and talk about dump things, alcohol may be affecting his interests for school. The other clear indication of Jay’s alcoholic orientation is the fights with loved ones and the break up with girlfriend. Jay never seems to have a good relationship with his parents in addition to breaking up with the girlfriend. He loves the girls but the girl is not comfortable with his click of friends. Probably she believes that the friends tend to influence him negatively. They make act irresponsible and fail to effectively play his part in their relationship. He realizes that his former girlfriend would not accept him back if he continues to keep up with his drinking friends but refuses to stop drinking and hanging around his friends. This is a clear sign that Jay may become alcoholic Alcohol seems to be the factor that strained the relationship with the girlfriend. But Jay refuses to stop even after realizing it. Recommendations:
Alcohol dependence is when a person depends on alcohol and has little control over how much he drinks. The dependence occurs by making the user to feel more happy and impulsive through chemical changes in the brain. This effect however goes away after a short time thereby making the user to crave for more alcohol.
There are numerous factors that make one to become alcoholic. The major factor is genetic. This is evident in the family of Jay. The father was a functional drinker who recently stopped drinking in order to support the son to follow suit. The parents of both the mother and the father were alcoholic. Clearly, Jay is developing the same habit out of gene inheritance. This is also a fact that Jay has to come to terms with. He has to realize that his problem is a family problem that can be treated. He does not have to suffer just because he acquired it genetically. Studies show that a person with alcoholic family members has a much higher risk of developing alcoholism.
Jay could also likely to indulge into alcoholism due to stressful situations he might be going through. He says he wants his girlfriend back because he loves her. The breakup with the girlfriend might have worsened his situation. He probably feels stressed when he thinks about the former girlfriend. This makes him to drink in order to reduce stress. At the same time, school work might be causing him a lot of stress. He is constantly bored by his lecturers. As a bright and talented student, he is likely to get to bored in class if he is not given challenging activities. He needs to be engaged more. His knowledge and skills should be put to use in challenging class room activities.
Alcoholism can be regarded as a condition that gets worse of not treated in good time. Jay can get on the road of recovery under only two conditions. First of all it is good that he is reluctantly accepting treatment. He needs to realize that he has a problem that needs to be addressed as soon as possible in order for him to avoid the consequences. However, treatment only becomes effective when the second condition is met. Jay needs to be committed to stop drinking.
Existential therapy will be applied to the case. According to this counseling approach, individuals have the sole responsibility of providing meaning to their own life. No one does it for them. As people give meaning to their lives, they tend to live life passionately based on their own definition. It is important for Jay to understand that life still has meaning in spite of their circumstances. Even though his situation might seem miserable, they are still able to give meaning to life. If he is able to develop a positive perception of life, he will be motivated to living passionately without drinking alcohol.
Schools are a primary social unit for students and teenagers. They offer a perfect opportunity for students to develop appropriate values through their set of rules. However, the messages may sometimes lead to feelings of rejection especially for particular groups of students. Alcohol addicts are among the groups of students who fall victim to the messages. Despite the fact that alcohol drinking among young people is a reality in schools, many school counseling professionals ignore the group.
Alcohol addicts have a difficult time identifying with the rest of the students. They often experience feelings of loneliness. As a result, they are considered a high risk group and are likely to engage in activities that will hurt them. They develop psychological disorders such as anxiety, depression, and low self esteem. In addition, such students are likely to drop from school and discontinue with their education. It is therefore important that the issue be addressed.
References
Appignanesi, R., Deurzen, E. v., & Cooper, D. (2010). Everyday Mysteries: a Handbook of Existential Psychotherapy. London: Routledge.
Caulkins, J. P., Kilmer, B., MacCoun, R. J., Pacula, R. L., & Reuter, P. (2012). Design considerations for legalizing cannabis: lessons inspired by analysis of California's Proposition 19: (Alcoholism and Drug Addiction). Addiction, 865-871.
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Hack, J. B., Hoffman, R. S., & Nelson, L. S. (2006). Resistant alcohol withdrawal: Does an unexpectedly large sedative requirement identify these patients early? Journal of Medical Toxicology, 55-60.
