Miss Benning was a health instructor at the most underfinanced parochial high school in the county. Even though she had been teaching for only two years, she had already established a reputation as a person with instructional approaches that motivated and inspired students to think and to learn.
For instance, one Wednesday morning at 11:00 she addressed the students in her classroom and said the following: “For the next two or three days we are going to learn about some basic alcoholism facts from a general viewpoint and we are also going to learn about some of the most highly researched signs of alcoholism from a more specific point of view.”
“Not all of these alcoholism signs will positively validate that someone with a drinking problem is a person who is addicted to alcohol, but the more signs that a person manifests, the stronger the possibility that he or she is a person who is alcohol dependent.”
Miss Benning then told the class that each person would be responsible for researching three alcoholism signs and then presenting his or her conclusions to the other members in the class via a eight minute oral presentation.
The Students are Keyed Up About Giving An Extensive Presentation to Their Fellow Classmates About The Signs of Alcoholism
After learning about the various alcoholism signs for a number of days, the time had finally arrived for the individual presentations. It was instantly apparent that the students were enthused about the subject matter because the material that they presented was exceptional. To say that Miss Benning was pleasantly surprised with the excitement displayed by the students in her class concerning 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 class and in the presentations. Miss Benning then asked the pupils in her classroom to go over the list and rank the top nine alcoholism signs that were most indicative of alcohol addiction. After approximately twenty minutes, Miss Benning collected the pieces of paper and informed the pupils in her classroom that after she tallies the numbers, she will present her findings the next school day.
There was some real excitement by the pupils while they were leaving Miss Benning’s classroom. One could swear that her students couldn’t wait for the next day to arrive so that they could find out the results of their in-class research.
The Students Compare Their Numbers With the Findings From A Team of Substance Abuse Authorities
When the next school day finally arrived, Miss Benning gave out a sheet of paper that listed the top five alcohol dependency signs according to the students’ rankings. To the left of these results, she added another column that was labeled “experts’ response.” She then told her students that the numbers in the extra column she added were the findings that were articulated by a council of substance abuse experts.
Miss Benning asked the pupils in her class to look over the data on the sheet of paper she handed out and then to raise their hand if they had any questions, issues, or concerns. Within 40 or 50 seconds, just about everyone in the class raised her or his hand. It was obvious that the pupils had some concerns, issues, or questions about their results versus the answers given by the specialists. As an illustration, just about every student had an issue with the highest ranked answer given by the experts, namely, “Do you feel extremely ill when you abstain from drinking?”
The Main Difference Between Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism is the Physical Dependency That is Experienced With Alcohol Addiction and Not With Alcohol Abuse
Miss Benning then told the pupils in her classroom why this answer was the most accurate sign of alcohol dependency. She underscored the fact that the most important difference between alcohol abuse and alcoholism is the physical dependency that is experienced with alcohol addiction and not with alcohol abuse.
For all intents and purposes this means that when an alcohol addicted individual suddenly quits drinking, he or she will experience alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
Miss Benning then explained to the students in her classroom that alcohol withdrawal symptoms are responses by the brain and by the body to the deficit of alcohol to which they had become accustomed. Stated differently, alcohol withdrawal symptoms are signals from the body and from the brain telling an alcohol dependent person that something is dreadfully out of kilter and needs to be fixed. These messages consist of a number of uncomfortable, dangerous, and painful withdrawal symptoms that can possibly result in a fatality if the proper treatment is not promptly received.
Miss Benning then discussed the many different alcohol withdrawal symptoms that can be gone through when an alcohol addicted individual abruptly stops drinking.
The point that Miss Benning tried to underscore was this: a person who engages in alcohol abuse 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, individuals who engage in alcohol abuse ever experience is alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
To articulate this as exactly as possible, Miss Benning emphasized the fact that alcohol abusers, unlike alcohol addicted individuals, are not alcohol dependent and as a consequence, when they quit drinking, they almost never experience alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
The Students Think They Have Discovered An Abnormality With the Findings From The Group of Alcohol Addiction Experts
The pupils also had a problem with the second ranked answer given by the drug and alcohol addiction specialists, that is to say, “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 informed the students in her class that this sign does not automatically denote that the problem is alcohol dependency, but that it does underline the need that alcohol dependent people have to drink in order to keep away from alcohol withdrawals.
After Miss Benning explained the relevance of alcohol withdrawal symptoms in the life of the alcohol addicted person, the students started to understand the essential difference between alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency.
To add a sense of closure to the subject matter, Miss Benning asked the students in her class to take out a piece of paper and answer the following question: “if every person who is an alcoholic knew about every one of the alcohol dependency signs and alcohol withdrawal symptoms we have studied, what percentage of them do you think would obtain alcohol treatment?”
After roughly three or four minutes, Miss Benning asked for the pupils’ predictions. While many pupils thought that about 75 to 85 percent of alcohol dependent individuals would seek alcohol addiction rehab if they knew about the facts related to alcohol withdrawal symptoms and alcohol addiction signs, most of the students thought that this number would not be less than 70 percent.
The Pupils Were Surprised to Discover That Only 25% of Alcohol Addicted People in the U.S. Get Alcohol Addiction Rehabilitation
To the shock of most of the students, Miss Benning mentioned that according to different scientific studies, only 25% of the alcohol dependent people in the U.S. seek alcoholism rehab. This amazed most of the pupils because they believed that first-hand knowledge of the awful statistics and facts linked to alcohol dependency would motivate the majority of the alcohol dependent individuals to get alcohol dependency rehab.
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. Obviously, the alcoholic’s need to drink on a daily basis is stronger than logic or facts. Indeed, since the need for alcohol is “reality” to the alcohol dependent individual, this is a thorny issue that is hard to change.
The Students are Eager 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 enthusiasm displayed by the students when they were leaving the classroom, Miss Benning knew that she had stimulated and encouraged the pupils in her class to stop and think about a noteworthy health and social problem that exists in our culture.