Miss Benning was a health instructor at the most financially challenged private high school in the county. Although she had been teaching for only five years, she had already achieved a reputation as an educator with teaching methods that stimulated and encouraged pupils to think and to learn.
For example, one Thursday morning at 9:30 she addressed the pupils in her class and announced the following: “For the next week we are going to learn about some basic alcoholism facts from a more wind-ranging perspective and we are also going to learn about some of the most common signs of alcoholism from a more specific perspective.”
“Not all of these alcoholism signs will without doubt reveal that a drinker with a drinking problem is an alcohol addicted person, but the more signs that a drinker exhibits, the stronger the probability that he or she is an individual who is alcohol dependent.”
Miss Benning then told the the pupils that each person would be responsible for examining three 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 Enthused About Giving An Extensive Presentation to Their Fellow Classmates About The Signs of Alcoholism
After learning about the various alcoholism signs for several days, the time had finally come for the student presentations. It was instantaneously obvious that the students in her class were enthused about the subject because the information that they presented was extraordinary. To say that Miss Benning was pleasantly surprised with the excitement displayed by the pupils in her classroom concerning this topic could not be overstated.
The day after all of the pupils completed their presentations, Miss Benning passed out a sheet of paper with a list of all the alcoholism signs that were discussed and presented in class and in the presentations. Miss Benning then asked the pupils in her class to study the list and rank the top five alcoholism signs that were most indicative of alcohol dependency. After approximately five minutes, Miss Benning collected the pieces of paper and told her students that after she tallies the numbers, she will present her findings the next school day.
There was a real buzz by the pupils while they were walking out of Miss Benning’s class. One could swear that her pupils couldn’t wait for the next day to arrive so that they could learn about the results of their in-class research.
The Students Compare Their Numbers With the Results From A Board of Drug and Alcohol Addiction Professionals
When the next school day arrived, Miss Benning handed out a sheet of paper that listed the top five alcohol addiction signs according to the pupils’ rankings. To the left of these results, she added another column that was labeled “experts’ answer.” She then explained to the students in her class that the numbers in the additional column she added represented the answers that were stated by a council of alcohol addiction authorities.
Miss Benning asked the students in her classroom to look over the numbers and then to raise their hand if they had any concerns, questions, or issues. Within 10 or 20 seconds, almost everyone in the classroom raised her or his hand. It was obvious that the students had some questions, issues, or concerns about their results versus the answers given by the authorities. For instance, just about every individual in the classroom had an issue with the highest ranked answer given by the professionals, that is, “Do you feel exceptionally nauseous when you stop drinking?”
The Primary Difference Between Alcohol Abuse and Alcohol Dependency is the Physical Dependency That is Experienced With Alcoholism and Not With Alcohol Abuse
Miss Benning then informed the pupils in her classroom why this answer was the most precise indicator of alcohol dependency. She pointed out that the chief difference between alcoholism and alcohol abuse is the physical dependency that is experienced with alcoholism and not with alcohol abuse.
In essence this means that when an alcohol addicted individual suddenly quits drinking, he or she will suffer through alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
Miss Benning then explained to the students in her class that alcohol withdrawal symptoms are responses by the body and by the brain to the deficiency of alcohol to which they had become accustomed. Stated another way, alcohol withdrawal symptoms are signals from the body and from the brain telling an alcoholic that something is exceedingly wrong and needs to be rectified. These messages consist of a number of uncomfortable, painful, and dangerous withdrawal symptoms that can potentially result in someone’s death if the proper therapy is not promptly undertaken.
Miss Benning then listed the many diverse alcohol withdrawal symptoms that can be gone through when an individual who is alcohol dependent abruptly quits drinking.
The point that Miss Benning tried to emphasize was this: an individual 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 symptom or sign that few, if any, alcohol abusers ever experience is alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
To articulate this as overtly as possible, Miss Benning emphasized the fact that alcohol abusers, unlike people who are addicted to alcohol, are not alcohol dependent and as a result, when they quit drinking, they almost never suffer from alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
The Pupils Think They Have Uncovered A Deviation With the Findings From The Council of Substance Abuse Specialists
The pupils also some difficulty with the second ranked answer given by the alcohol addiction professionals, 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 told the students in her class that this sign does not necessarily imply that the problem is alcoholism, but that it does point to the need that alcoholics have to drink in order to prevent alcohol withdrawals.
After Miss Benning explained the significance of alcohol withdrawal symptoms in the life of the alcohol dependent person, the students started to comprehend the basic difference between alcohol abuse and alcoholism.
To add a sense of closure to the subject matter, Miss Benning asked her pupils to take out a sheet of paper and answer the following question: “if every person who is addicted to alcohol knew about every one of the alcohol dependency signs and alcohol withdrawal symptoms we have studied, what percentage of them do you think would ask for alcohol treatment?”
After roughly three or four minutes, Miss Benning asked for the students’ predictions. While many students reasoned that around 70 to 80 percent of people who are alcohol dependent would ask for alcohol rehabilitation if they knew about the facts related to alcoholism signs and alcohol withdrawal symptoms, most of the pupils believed that this number would not be less than 50 percent.
The Students Were Shocked to Find Out That Only 25% of Individuals Who are Alcohol Dependent in the U.S. Obtain Alcohol Addiction Treatment
To the surprise of most of the students, Miss Benning acknowledged that according to different scientific investigations, only 25% of the individuals who are addicted to alcohol in the United States ask for alcoholism treatment. This shocked most of the students because they reasoned that exposure to the abysmal statistics and facts linked to alcoholism would motivate the majority of the alcohol addicted people to seek alcohol dependency treatment.
Miss Benning then stated that alcoholics not only need alcohol on a daily basis in order to function but they also need alcohol on a daily basis so they can stay away from possible alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Evidently, the alcoholic’s need to drink on a daily basis is stronger than logic or facts. As a matter of fact, since the thirst for alcohol is “reality” to the individual who is addicted to alcohol, this is a thorny issue that is hard to negate.
The Incidence of Alcoholism and Mental Health Problems Regularly Leads to Marital, Friendship, Divorce, and Relationship Problems
Finally, Miss Benning told her students that it is relevant to conceptualize that alcohol dependency and a variety of mental health predicaments like depression are highly interlinked. Additionally, the incidence of mental health problems and alcohol addiction often lead to relationship, friendship, divorce, and marital problems.
The Pupils are Encouraged to Learn About Alcoholism Symptoms and Signs in Today’s Society
A few minutes later the bell rang, signifying the end of the class. Based on the excitement exhibited by the pupils when they were leaving the room, Miss Benning recognized that she had encouraged and inspired the students in her class to stop and think about an important health and social problem that exists in our country.