Miss Benning was a health teacher at the most financially challenged co-educational high school in the region. Even though she had been teaching for only five years, she had already established a reputation as a person with instructional methods that encouraged and inspired her pupils to think and to learn.
For example, one Thursday morning at 8:00 she addressed her students and announced the following: “For the next two weeks we are going to learn about some basic alcoholism facts from a general standpoint and we are also going to learn about some of the most highly researched signs of alcoholism from a less general and more detailed viewpoint.”
“Not all of these alcoholism signs will absolutely demonstrate that a drinker with a drinking problem is an individual who is addicted to alcohol, but the more signs that a drinker displays, the stronger the probability that he or she is a person who is addicted to alcohol.”
Miss Benning then explained to the members in the class that each pupil would be held responsible for studying four alcoholism signs and then presenting his or her results to the other members in the class via a nine minute oral presentation.
The Pupils are Keyed Up About Giving An Extensive Presentation to Their Fellow Students About The Signs of Alcoholism
After learning about the various alcoholism signs for quite a few days, the time had come for the student presentations. It was at once clear to see that the pupils were keyed up about the subject because the information that they presented was first class. To say that Miss Benning was pleasantly surprised with the enthusiasm exhibited by the students in her class concerning this topic was an understatement.
The day after all of the students completed their presentations, Miss Benning passed out a sheet of paper with a list of all the alcoholism signs that were presented and discussed in class and in the presentations. Miss Benning then asked the pupils in her class to study the list and rank the top nine alcohol dependency signs that were most indicative of alcoholism. After approximately ten minutes, Miss Benning collected the sheets of paper and explained to her students that after she studies the results, she will discuss her findings the next school day.
There was a real buzz by the pupils while they were leaving Miss Benning’s classroom. One could swear that her pupils couldn’t wait for the next day to arrive so that they could find out the outcome of their in-class research.
The Pupils Match Their Numbers Against the Assessments From A Council of Drug and Alcohol Abuse Experts
When the next school day came, Miss Benning handed out a sheet of paper that listed the top five alcoholism signs as per the pupils’ rankings. Next to these results, she added another column that was labeled “correct answer.” She then told the pupils in her class that the numbers in the second column she added represented the findings that were stated publicly by a panel of drug and alcohol abuse experts.
Miss Benning asked the students in her classroom to look over the information she handed out and then to raise their hand if they had any questions, issues, or concerns. Within a minute or two, virtually every student in the class raised his or her hand. It was obvious that the students had some questions, issues, or concerns about their results versus the answers given by the professionals. As an illustration, virtually every person in the classroom disagreed with the highest ranked answer given by the experts, that is to say, “Do you feel exceptionally nauseous when you stop drinking?”
The Foremost Difference Between Alcohol Addiction and Alcohol Abuse is the Physical Dependency That is Experienced With Alcoholism and Not With Alcohol Abuse
Miss Benning then explained to the students in her classroom why this answer was the most unambiguous indicator of alcohol addiction. She pointed out that the main difference between alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency is the physical addiction that is experienced with alcohol addiction and not with alcohol abuse.
In essence this means that when an alcohol addicted person suddenly stops drinking, he or she will suffer through alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
Miss Benning then informed the students in her classroom that alcohol withdrawal symptoms are responses by the body and by the brain to the lack of alcohol to which they had become acclimated. Stated differently, alcohol withdrawal symptoms are messages from the brain and from the body telling an individual who is addicted to alcohol that something is exceedingly misaligned and needs to be fixed. These signals consist of a number of dangerous, painful, and uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms that can possibly lead to a person’s death if the proper therapy is not immediately undertaken.
Miss Benning then listed the many different alcohol withdrawal symptoms that can be gone through when an alcohol addicted person abruptly stops drinking.
The point that Miss Benning tried to stress was this: a person who engages in alcohol abuse can experience almost any and every one of the alcohol addiction signs that the students had ranked, but the one sign or symptom that few, if any, individuals who engage in alcohol abuse ever experience is alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
To explain this as clearly as possible, Miss Benning pointed out that alcohol abusers, unlike individuals who are addicted to alcohol, are not alcohol dependent and accordingly, when they stop drinking, they almost never suffer from alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
The Pupils Believe They Have Discovered An Inconsistency With the Findings From The Panel of Substance Abuse Authorities
The students also had an issue with the second ranked answer given by the alcoholism specialists, to be precise, “Have you ever had a drink the first thing in the morning to get rid of a hangover or to steady your nerves?”
Miss Benning explained to the pupils in her class that this sign does not necessarily mean that the problem is alcohol addiction, but that it does underline the need that alcohol dependent individuals have to drink in order to avert alcohol withdrawals.
After Miss Benning explained the importance of alcohol withdrawal symptoms in the life of the alcohol addicted person, the students started to grasp the fundamental difference between alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction.
To add a sense of closure to the topic, Miss Benning asked her students to take out a sheet of paper and answer the following question: “if every individual who is alcohol dependent knew about every one of the alcohol withdrawal symptoms and alcohol dependency signs we have studied, what percentage of them do you think would ask for alcohol treatment?”
After about three or four minutes, Miss Benning asked for the pupils’ answers. While many students believed that about 70 to 80 percent of alcohol addicted people would get alcohol rehabilitation if they knew about the facts related to alcohol withdrawal symptoms and alcohol dependency signs, most of the students reasoned that this number would not be less than 55 percent.
The Students Were Amazed to Find Out That Only 25% of Individuals Who are Addicted to Alcohol in the U.S. Seek Alcohol Addiction Rehabilitation
To the amazement of most of the students, Miss Benning confirmed that according to different scientific investigations, only 25% of the alcohol dependent individuals in the United States obtain alcohol dependency rehabilitation. This astonished most of the students because they thought that first hand experience of the devastating facts and statistics related to alcohol addiction would motivate the majority of the alcoholics to ask for alcohol treatment.
Miss Benning then explained that individuals who are alcohol dependent not only need alcohol on an everyday basis in order to function but they also need alcohol everyday so they can keep away from possible alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Obviously, the alcohol addicted individual’s need to drink on a daily basis is more powerful than facts or logic. Undeniably, since the thirst for alcohol is “reality” to the alcohol addicted individual, this is a demanding issue that is difficult to overcome.
The Incidence of Alcohol Addiction and Mental Health Problems Commonly Leads to Marital, Divorce, Relationship, and Friendship Problems
Finally, Miss Benning explained to pupils that it is relevant to understand that alcohol addiction and different mental health issues like depression are highly interlinked. In addition, the occurrence of mental health difficulties and alcohol addiction commonly lead to relationship, marital, friendship, and divorce problems.
The Pupils are Enthused to Learn About Alcohol Addiction Signs and Symptoms in Today’s Society
A few minutes later the bell rang, indicating that the end of class had arrived. Based on the excitement manifested by the students when they were leaving the classroom, Miss Benning recognized that she had motivated and inspired the pupils in her classroom to stop and think about a critical health and social problem that exists in our country.