Miss Benning was a health teacher at the largest private high school in the state. Although she had been teaching for only two or three years, she had already gained a reputation as an instructor with instructional methods that inspired and encouraged the pupils in her class to learn and to think.
For instance, one Tuesday morning at 9:30 she addressed her students and announced the following: “For the next four or five days we are going to learn about some basic alcoholism facts from a general perspective and we are also going to learn about several of the most familiar signs of alcoholism from a less general and more specific point of view.
Not all of these alcoholism signs will beyond doubt reveal that a drinker with a drinking problem is an alcohol addicted individual, but the more signs that a drinker displays, the greater the possibility that he or she is an alcohol dependent individual.”
Miss Benning then informed the students in the class that each person would be held responsible for investigating two alcoholism signs and then presenting his or her results to the other class members via a twenty minute oral presentation.
The Pupils are Enthused About Giving A Thorough Presentation to Their Fellow Classmates About The Signs of Alcohol Addiction
After learning about the different signs of alcohol addiction for a number of days, the time had finally arrived for the oral presentations. It was at once clear to see that the pupils in her class were thrilled about the subject because the material that they presented was extraordinary. To say that Miss Benning was pleasantly surprised with the eagerness displayed by the pupils in her class regarding this subject matter was an understatement.
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 discussed and presented in the presentations and in class. Miss Benning then asked the pupils in her classroom to study the list and rank the top nine alcoholism signs that were most indicative of alcohol addiction. After around ten minutes, Miss Benning collected the pieces of paper and explained to her students that after she tallies the results, she will discuss her findings the next school day.
There was some real excitement 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 outcome of their in-class research.
The Students Match Their Numbers Against the Assessments From A Council of Drug and Alcohol Abuse Specialists
When the next school day came, Miss Benning passed out a piece of paper that listed the top three alcoholism signs as per the pupils’ rankings. To the right of these results, she included another column that was labeled “experts’ answer.” She then informed her students that the numbers in the additional column she added signified the responses that were stated publicly by a group of alcohol addiction specialists.
Miss Benning told the students in her classroom to look over the data on the piece of paper she passed out and then to raise their hand if they had any issues, concerns, or questions. Within a minute or two, virtually every pupil in the classroom 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 authorities. For example, virtually every individual in the classroom disagreed with the highest ranked answer given by the authorities, to be precise, “Do you feel exceptionally ill when you stop drinking?”
The Basic Difference Between Alcohol Abuse and Alcohol Dependency is the Physical Addiction That is Experienced With Alcoholism and Not With Alcohol Abuse
Miss Benning then explained to the pupils in her class why this answer was the most straightforward indicator of alcoholism. She underscored the fact that the foremost difference between alcohol abuse and alcoholism is the physical dependency that is experienced with alcoholism and not with alcohol abuse.
Essentially this means that when an individual who is alcohol dependent abruptly quits drinking, he or she will experience alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
Miss Benning then informed her students that alcohol withdrawal symptoms are responses by the body and by the brain to the deficit of alcohol to which they had become acclimated. Stated more explicitly, alcohol withdrawal symptoms are messages from the brain and from the body telling an alcohol dependent individual that something is extremely wrong and needs to be rectified. These signals consist of several painful, uncomfortable, and dangerous withdrawal symptoms that can possibly lead to a loss of life if the proper treatment is not immediately undertaken.
Miss Benning then went over the host of alcohol withdrawal symptoms that can be experienced when a person who is alcohol dependent suddenly stops drinking.
The fact that Miss Benning tried to emphasize 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, individuals who engage in alcohol abuse ever experience is alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
To state this as overtly as possible, Miss Benning stressed the point that alcohol abusers, unlike alcohol addicted individuals, are not alcohol dependent and as a consequence, when they stop drinking, they almost never experience alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
The Pupils Feel They Have Uncovered An Inconsistency With the Findings From The Panel of Substance Abuse Professionals
The pupils also had an issue with the second ranked answer given by the alcohol dependency professionals, to be precise, “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 the pupils in her classroom that this sign does not necessarily suggest that the problem is alcohol dependency, but that it does highlight the need that alcoholics have to drink in order to prevent alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
After Miss Benning explained the relevance of alcohol withdrawal symptoms in the life of the alcohol dependent individual, the pupils started to comprehend the key difference between alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency.
To add a sense of closure to the subject, Miss Benning asked her students to take out a sheet of paper and answer the following question: “if every person 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 get alcohol dependency rehab?”
After roughly one or two minutes, Miss Benning asked for the pupils’ responses. While many students believed that approximately 75 to 85 percent of alcohol dependent people would obtain alcohol dependency rehab if they knew about the facts related to alcohol withdrawal symptoms and alcoholism signs, most of the students reasoned that this number would not be less than 60 percent.
The Pupils Were Amazed to Learn That Only 25% of Alcohol Dependent Individuals in the United States Ask For Alcohol Dependency Treatment
To the shock of most of the pupils, Miss Benning confirmed that according to various scientific examinations, only 25% of the people who are addicted to alcohol in the U.S. get alcohol treatment. This astonished most of the students because they thought that exposure to the disgusting statistics and facts associated with alcoholism would motivate most of the people who are alcohol dependent to obtain alcohol rehabilitation.
Miss Benning then explained that individuals who are addicted to alcohol not only need alcohol everyday in order to function but they also require alcohol everyday so they can avoid possible alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Apparently, 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 desire for alcohol is “reality” to the individual who is alcohol dependent, this is a challenging issue that is difficult to counteract.
A few minutes later the bell rang, signaling the end of class. Based on the buzz exhibited by the pupils when they were leaving the room, Miss Benning knew that she had encouraged and inspired her students to stop and think about a significant health and social problem that exists in our country.