A Supervisor Helps a Worker Address His Depression and His Irresponsible and Abusive Drinking After a Destroyed Relationship

Russ dropped out of high school when he was seventeen years old and eventually got a job at a local copper smelting plant. For the last eight years he has gained a reputation as a conscientious and hard-working individual who infrequently calls off work due to sickness.

Around eight months ago he started going out with a young lady named Emma. They seemed to hit it off immediately and looked as if they had a lot of good times together.

The Heavy and Irresponsible Drinking Begins

When Russ met Emma, he hardly ever drank. This situation totally changed when Emma and Russ started seeing one another on a fairly regular basis. In actual fact, their relationship was going great until Emma called Russ one night approximately 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 drove to Emma’s apartment and found out almost immediately that she had already moved out. Russ took this exceptionally hard. As a matter of fact, he was dismayed because they appeared to be getting along so very well.

When Abusive and Hazardous Drinking Leads to Problems at Work

So what did Russ do about Emma’s departure? Rather than working through his suffering and pain, he started getting inebriated just about 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 once per week and that he time after time called off sick. What is more, some of his fellow employees made an appointment with staff in Human Resources Department and said that Russ over and over again came to work with a noticeable smell of alcohol on his breath or on his clothes.

Russ’s manager heard about all of this from Human Resources and also from Russ’s fellow employees. So one Thursday afternoon he asked Russ to come into his office. He told Russ that he had recently noticed a clear-cut change in his sick time, attendance, behavior, and in his work performance.

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

Russ’s supervisor also stated 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 manager 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 instead because they are concerned about you. And I am concerned too. I don’t want to interfere with your life outside this company, but it is obvious that you are manifesting some of the typical symptoms and signs of alcohol abuse. As a consequence, I want you to go and see a healthcare practitioner in the employee’s assistance program to discuss your drinking and your depression.”

“Russ, I’m no medical doctor or a counselor, but I have seen many of my relatives and friends go through some extremely negative alcohol side effects. What is more, I have also seen the signs of alcoholism first-hand in my own family. When individuals have problems with drinking, these issues not only affect the drinker, but they also make an impact on his or her co-workers, relatives, friends, neighbors, and family.”

Russ admired his manager very much and as a consequence followed through with his suggestion the next morning when he called and scheduled an appointment with a counselor 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 hurt he still has about Emma, he felt some comfort knowing that his supervisor and his co-workers wanted what’s best for him and cared about him. This gave him some emotional relief for the first time in quite a few weeks and he frankly felt some hope that he would get back on track with his life.