Miss Benning was a health teacher at the most underfinanced co-educational high school in the county. Although she had been teaching for only five years, she had already established a reputation as an instructor with educational methods that inspired and encouraged her students to think and to learn.
For instance, one Wednesday morning at 9:00 she addressed the students in her class and announced the following: “For the next few days we are going to learn about some basic alcoholism facts from a more broad-based viewpoint and we are also going to learn about several of the best known signs of alcoholism from a less general and more detailed point of view.”
“Not all of these alcoholism signs will definitely substantiate that an individual with a drinking problem is an alcohol dependent individual, but the more signs that an individual displays, the stronger the probability that he or she is an alcohol addicted individual.”
Miss Benning then explained to the members of the class that each pupil would be held responsible for studying two alcohol dependence signs and then presenting his or her findings to the class via a seven minute oral presentation.
The Students are Energized About Giving A Broad-Based Presentation to Their Fellow Pupils About The Signs of Alcohol Addiction
After learning about the diverse signs of alcohol addiction for several days, the time had finally arrived for the oral presentations. It was instantly clear to see that the students were energized about the topic because the material that they presented was superb. To say that Miss Benning was pleasantly surprised with the interest displayed by the students in her classroom regarding 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 alcohol addiction signs that were discussed and presented in class and in the presentations. Miss Benning then asked her pupils to study the list and rank the top six alcohol dependency signs that were most indicative of alcohol dependency. After around fifteen minutes, Miss Benning collected the pieces of paper and informed the students in her class that after she evaluates the results, she will reveal her findings the next school day.
There was a real buzz by the students while they were walking out of Miss Benning’s class. One could swear that her pupils couldn’t wait for the next day to come so that they could find out the results of their in-class research.
The Pupils Match Their Answers Against the Evaluations From A Board of Substance Abuse Specialists
When the next school day finally came, Miss Benning passed out a sheet of paper that listed the top four alcohol addiction signs according to the students’ rankings. To the left of these results, she added another column that was labeled “experts’ response.” She then explained to her pupils that the numbers in the second column she added represented the findings that were generated by a board of alcoholism professionals.
Miss Benning told her students to look over the information on the sheet of paper she passed out and then to raise their hand if they had any questions, concerns, or issues. Within 40 or 50 seconds, almost every pupil in the classroom raised her or his hand. It was apparent that the pupils had some concerns, issues, or questions about their results versus the answers given by the professionals. For instance, just about every student had an issue with the highest ranked answer given by the professionals, namely, “Do you feel exceedingly ill when you stop drinking?”
The Essential Difference Between Alcohol Addiction and Alcohol Abuse is the Physical Addiction That is Experienced With Alcoholism and Not With Alcohol Abuse
Miss Benning then explained to her pupils why this answer was the most unambiguous sign of alcohol dependency. She underscored the fact that the major difference between alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency is the physical addiction that is experienced with alcohol dependency and not with alcohol abuse.
Essentially this means that when an alcohol dependent individual suddenly quits drinking, he or she will suffer through alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
Miss Benning then informed her pupils that alcohol withdrawal symptoms are responses by the brain and by the body to the deprivation of alcohol to which they had become accustomed. Stated more precisely, alcohol withdrawal symptoms are messages from the brain and from the body telling an individual who is addicted to alcohol that something is terribly wrong and needs to be fixed. These messages consist of a number of uncomfortable, painful, and dangerous withdrawal symptoms that can possibly lead to an individual’s death if the proper treatment is not immediately received.
Miss Benning then went over the many different alcohol withdrawal symptoms that can be gone through when a person who is alcohol dependent suddenly stops drinking.
The point that Miss Benning tried to highlight was this: an alcohol abuser can experience almost any and every one of the alcoholism signs that the students had ranked, but the one symptom or sign that few, if any, people who engage in alcohol abuse ever experience is alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
To articulate this as overtly as possible, Miss Benning underscored the fact that alcohol abusers, unlike alcohol addicted people, are not alcohol dependent and accordingly, when they stop drinking, they almost never experience alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
The Pupils Feel They Have Discovered A Dissimilarity With the Findings From The Council of Chemical Dependency Professionals
The pupils also had a problem with the second ranked answer given by the drug and alcohol addiction specialists, to be exact, “Have you ever had a drink the first thing in the morning to steady your nerves or to get rid of a hangover?”
Miss Benning informed her pupils that this sign does not necessarily suggest that the problem is alcohol addiction, but that it does underscore the need that alcohol addicted people have to drink in order to prevent alcohol withdrawals.
After Miss Benning explained the importance of alcohol withdrawal symptoms in the life of the individual who is alcohol dependent, the students started to appreciate the main difference between alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency.
To add a sense of closure to the subject, Miss Benning asked the pupils in her class to take out a piece of paper and answer the following question: “if every individual who is an alcoholic knew about every one of the alcohol withdrawal symptoms and alcoholism signs we have studied, what percentage of them do you think would obtain alcohol treatment?”
After roughly one or two minutes, Miss Benning asked for the pupils’ responses. While many pupils figured that roughly 80 to 90 percent of people who are alcohol dependent would seek alcohol dependency rehab if they knew about the facts related to alcoholism signs and alcohol withdrawal symptoms, most of the pupils reasoned that this number would not be less than 50 percent.
The Pupils Were Astonished to Find Out That Only 25% of Alcohol Addicted People in the U.S. Get Alcohol Dependency Treatment
To the shock of most of the students, Miss Benning confirmed that according to different scientific examinations, only 25% of the alcohol addicted people in the U.S. seek alcohol rehab. This surprised most of the pupils because they reasoned that exposure to the abysmal facts and statistics associated with alcoholism would motivate most of the individuals who are alcohol dependent to seek alcohol dependency rehabilitation.
Miss Benning then explained that individuals who are alcohol dependent not only need alcohol on a daily basis in order to function but they also require alcohol on an everyday basis so they can avoid possible alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Evidently, the alcoholic’s need to drink on a daily basis is stronger than logic or facts. In actual fact, since the thirst for alcohol is “reality” to the alcohol dependent individual, this is a demanding issue that is hard to overcome.
A few minutes later the bell rang, signifying the end of the class. Based on the enthusiasm displayed by the students when they were leaving the room, Miss Benning realized that she had motivated and inspired the pupils in her class to stop and think about a vital health and social problem that exists in our country.
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