Russ got expelled from high school when he was sixteen years old and eventually found employment at a local tire manufacturer. For the past five-and-a-half years he has gained a reputation as a hard-working and reliable individual who infrequently calls off work because of sickness.

Approximately seven-and-a-half months ago he started dating a woman named Emma. They appeared to hit it off right away and looked like they had a lot of good times together.

The Irresponsible and Heavy Drinking Begins

When Russ met Emma, he hardly ever drank. This circumstance totally changed when Russ and Emma started dating on a fairly regular basis. In actual fact, everything was going fine until Emma called Russ one night nearly 4:30 AM and said that she had to stop dating him and that she couldn’t tell him the reasons for her decision at that moment.

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

When Heavy and Excessive Drinking Leads to Problems at Work

So what did Russ do about Emma? Rather than working through his agony and pain, he started getting drunk almost every night. It didn’t take long for his pals at work or for his boss to notice that Russ was coming to work late at least three times per week and that he routinely called off sick. Moreover, some of his co-workers made an appointment with staff in the HR Department and stated that Russ constantly came to work with a strong smell of alcohol on his breath or on his clothes.

Russ’s supervisor heard about all of this from Human Resources and also from Russ’s fellow employees. So one Thursday morning he called Russ into his office. He told Russ that he had recently noticed a great change in his work performance, sick time, attendance, and in his behavior.

When a Boss Can Encourage a Worker to Get Help For His or Her Excessive and Heavy Drinking

Russ’s supervisor also articulated 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 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 are concerned about you. And I am concerned too. I don’t want to pry into your personal life, but it is apparent that you are manifesting some of the normal signs and symptoms of alcohol abuse. As a result, I want you to go and see a psychologist in the employee’s assistance program to discuss your drinking situation and your depression.”

“Russ, I’m no healthcare practitioner or a counselor, but I have seen more than a few of my relatives and friends experience some extremely bad alcohol side effects. Not only this but I have also experienced the signs of alcoholism first-hand in my own family. When people experience problems with drinking, these problems not only affect the drinker, but they also make an impact on his or her co-workers, friends, neighbors, relatives, and family.”

Russ respected his supervisor very much and as a result followed through with his suggestion the next morning when he called and scheduled an appointment with a psychologist in the employee’s assistance program.

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

Even though Russ didn’t automatically feel any better or less depressed about the pain in his heart about Emma, he felt some comfort knowing that his manager and his co-workers cared about him and wanted what’s best for him. This gave Russ some psychological relief for the first time in more than a few weeks and he honestly felt some hope that he would get his life back on track.