Miss Benning was a health teacher at the most financially challenged private high school in the local community. Even though she had been teaching for only three years, she had already achieved a reputation as a person with instructional methods that encouraged and inspired her pupils to learn and to think.
For example, one Tuesday morning she addressed her pupils and said the following: “For the next four or five days we are going to learn about some basic alcoholism facts from a more broad-based perspective and we are also going to learn about several of the most familiar signs of alcoholism from a less general and more specific viewpoint.”
“Not all of these alcoholism signs will undeniably reveal that an individual with a drinking problem is an alcohol dependent person, but the more signs that a person exhibits, the greater the possibility that he or she is an alcohol addicted individual.”
Miss Benning then informed the students in the class that each person would be responsible for examining three alcoholism signs and then presenting his or her results to the other class members via a eight minute oral presentation.
The Students are Energized About Giving A Comprehensive Presentation to Their Fellow Classmates About Alcohol Addiction Signs
After learning about the different signs of alcohol dependency for quite a few days, the time had finally come for the student presentations. It was at once noticeable that the pupils in her class were enthused about the subject matter because the information that they presented was excellent. To say that Miss Benning was pleasantly surprised with the excitement manifested by the pupils in her class concerning this subject could not be overstated.
The day after all of the pupils completed their presentations, Miss Benning passed out a piece of paper with a list of all the alcohol addiction signs that were presented and discussed in the presentations and in class. Miss Benning then asked her pupils to go over the list and rank the top five alcoholism signs that were most indicative of alcoholism. After around twenty minutes, Miss Benning collected the sheets of paper and explained to the pupils in her class that after she studies the results, she will discuss her findings the next school day.
There was a real buzz by the students while they were exiting Miss Benning’s class. One could swear that her students couldn’t wait for the next day to arrive so that they could find out the outcome of their in-class research.
The Pupils Compare Their Answers With the Appraisals From A Team of Drug and Alcohol Addiction Specialists
When the next school day finally came, Miss Benning passed out a piece of paper that listed the top three alcoholism signs as per the pupils’ rankings. Next to these results, she included another column that was labeled “experts’ response.” She then told the students in her classroom that the numbers in the extra column she added stood for the findings that were announced by a council of chemical dependency specialists.
Miss Benning told the pupils in her class to look over the data on the piece of paper she passed out and then to raise their hand if they had any issues, questions, or concerns. Within 30 or 40 seconds, almost everyone in the class raised her or his hand. It was evident that the pupils had some questions, issues, or concerns about their results versus the answers given by the specialists. For instance, almost every individual in the class disagreed with the highest ranked answer given by the experts, namely, “Do you feel exceedingly nauseous when you refrain from drinking?”
The Main Difference Between Alcohol Abuse and Alcohol Dependency is the Physical Addiction That is Experienced With Alcohol Addiction and Not With Alcohol Abuse
Miss Benning then told the students in her classroom why this answer was the most straightforward sign of alcohol addiction. She pointed out that the principal difference between alcohol abuse and alcoholism is the physical addiction that is experienced with alcoholism and not with alcohol abuse.
For all intents and purposes this means that when an alcohol dependent individual abruptly quits drinking, he or she will suffer through alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
Miss Benning then explained to her students that alcohol withdrawal symptoms are responses by the body and by the brain to the deprivation of alcohol to which they had become acclimated. Stated more forcefully, alcohol withdrawal symptoms are signals from the brain and from the body telling a person who is addicted to alcohol that something is very misaligned and needs to be rectified. These signals consist of several dangerous, uncomfortable, and painful withdrawal symptoms that can potentially lead to a fatality if the appropriate treatment is not immediately undertaken.
Miss Benning then discussed the many diverse alcohol withdrawal symptoms that can be gone through when an individual who is addicted to alcohol abruptly stops drinking.
The point that Miss Benning tried to stress was this: an alcohol abuser can experience almost any and every one of the alcoholism signs that the students had ranked, but the one sign or symptom that few, if any, people who engage in alcohol abuse ever experience is alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
To state this as precisely as possible, Miss Benning underscored the fact that alcohol abusers, unlike alcohol dependent people, are not alcohol dependent and consequently, when they quit drinking, they almost never suffer from alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
The Students Feel They Have Found An Incongruity With the Findings From The Team of Substance Abuse Experts
The pupils also had an issue with the second ranked answer given by the alcoholism authorities, namely, “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 explained to the students in her classroom that this sign does not necessarily imply that the problem is alcoholism, but that it does point to the need that individuals who are alcohol dependent have to drink in order to stay away from alcohol withdrawals.
After Miss Benning explained the importance of alcohol withdrawal symptoms in the life of the alcohol addicted person, the students started to appreciate the major difference between alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency.
To add a sense of closure to the topic, Miss Benning asked the pupils in her classroom to take out a sheet of paper and answer the following question: “if every person who is alcohol dependent knew about every one of the alcohol withdrawal symptoms and alcoholism signs we have studied, what percentage of them do you think would get alcohol dependency rehab?”
After approximately two or three minutes, Miss Benning asked for the pupils’ responses. While many pupils figured that around 80 to 90 percent of alcohol dependent people would seek alcohol rehab if they knew about the facts related to alcohol addiction signs and alcohol withdrawal symptoms, most of the students thought that this number would not be less than 60 percent.
The Pupils Were Surprised to Discover That Only 25% of Alcoholics in the U.S. Ask For Alcohol Treatment
To the shock of most of the pupils, Miss Benning acknowledged that according to the research literature, only 25% of the alcohol dependent people in the U.S. get alcohol rehab. This astonished most of the pupils because they figured that first-hand knowledge of the alarming facts and statistics correlated with alcoholism would motivate the majority of the individuals who are alcohol dependent to get alcohol addiction treatment.
Miss Benning then explained that alcohol dependent people not only need alcohol everyday in order to function but they also need alcohol on a daily basis so they can steer clear of possible alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Clearly, the alcohol addicted person’s need to drink on a daily basis is stronger than facts or logic. As a matter of fact, because the thirst for alcohol is “reality” to the individual who is addicted to alcohol, this is a challenging issue that is hard to undo.
The Combination of Mental Health Problems and Alcohol Dependency Commonly Leads to Friendship, Marital, Relationship, and Divorce Problems
Finally, Miss Benning explained to her students that it is important to conceptualize that alcoholism and various mental health issues like depression are highly interlinked. Furthermore, the incidence of mental health problems and alcoholism regularly lead to friendship, relationship, marital, and divorce problems.
The Pupils are Encouraged to Learn About Alcohol Addiction Signs and Symptoms in Today’s Society
A few minutes later the bell rang, indicating the end of the class. Based on the excitement exhibited by the students when they were leaving the classroom, Miss Benning realized that she had encouraged and inspired the pupils in her class to stop and think about a vital health and social problem that exists in our culture. Clearly, her students also learned how to increase their positive attitude, personal success and happiness, and self esteem.
