Miss Benning was a health teacher at the most financially challenged co-educational high school in the district. Even though she had been teaching for only two or three years, she had already achieved a reputation as a person with teaching techniques that encouraged and stimulated the students in her class to learn and to think.
For example, one Monday morning at 9:00 she addressed her pupils and announced the following: “For the next two or three days we are going to learn about some basic alcoholism facts from a more broad-based point of view and we are also going to learn about several of the most highly researched signs of alcoholism from a more specific standpoint.”
“Not all of these alcoholism signs will positively confirm that an individual with a drinking problem is a person who is alcohol dependent, but the more signs that a person exhibits, the more likely it is that he or she is an individual who is alcohol dependent.”
Miss Benning then informed the class members that each student would be accountable for researching four alcoholism signs and then presenting his or her findings to the class via a eight minute oral presentation.
The Students are Enthused About Giving An In-Depth Presentation to Their Fellow Pupils About The Signs of Alcohol Dependency
After learning about the various signs of alcohol addiction for several days, the time had arrived for the student presentations. It was immediately noticeable that her students were thrilled about the topic because the material that they presented was superb. To say that Miss Benning was pleasantly surprised with the passion manifested by the pupils in her class regarding this subject could not be overstated.
The day after all of the students completed their presentations, Miss Benning passed out a piece of paper with a list of all the alcohol dependency signs that were presented and discussed in class and in the presentations. Miss Benning then asked the pupils in her class to go over the list and rank the top six alcohol dependency signs that were most indicative of alcohol dependency. After about five minutes, Miss Benning collected the pieces of paper and told the students in her class that after she assesses the results, she will reveal her findings the next school day.
There was some real anticipation by the pupils while they were exiting 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 Pupils Contrast Their Answers With the Evaluations From A Team of Alcoholism Specialists
When the next school day arrived, Miss Benning handed out a sheet of paper that listed the top three alcohol addiction signs according to the pupils’ rankings. To the left of these results, she added another column that was labeled “correct answer.” She then explained to the students in her class that the numbers in the additional column she added represented the responses that were announced by a board of alcoholism authorities.
Miss Benning asked the students in her class to look over the data on the piece of paper she handed out and then to raise their hand if they had any concerns, issues, or questions. Within 20 or 30 seconds, just about every pupil in the class raised his or her hand. It was clear to see that the students had some issues, questions, or concerns about their results versus the answers given by the authorities. As an illustration, almost every person in the class had an issue with the highest ranked answer given by the specialists, to be exact, “Do you feel exceptionally nauseous when you quit drinking?”
The Major Difference Between Alcohol Abuse and Alcohol Dependency is the Physical Dependency That is Experienced With Alcohol Dependency and Not With Alcohol Abuse
Miss Benning then informed the students in her classroom why this answer was the most clear-cut sign of alcoholism. She highlighted the fact that the major difference between alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency is the physical addiction that is experienced with alcohol addiction and not with alcohol abuse.
Essentially this means that when an individual who is addicted to alcohol suddenly stops drinking, he or she will go through alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
Miss Benning then explained to the pupils 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 acclimated. Stated differently, alcohol withdrawal symptoms are messages from the body and from the brain telling an individual who is addicted to alcohol that something is exceedingly misaligned and needs to be fixed. These messages consist of a number of uncomfortable, painful, and dangerous withdrawal symptoms that can potentially lead to a fatality if the appropriate therapy is not promptly received.
Miss Benning then listed the many different alcohol withdrawal symptoms that can be gone through when a person who is addicted to alcohol suddenly quits drinking.
The point that Miss Benning tried to underline 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, alcohol abusers ever experience is alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
To explain this as clearly as possible, Miss Benning stressed the fact that alcohol abusers, unlike alcohol dependent individuals, are not alcohol dependent and accordingly, when they quit drinking, they almost never go through alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
The Students Think They Have Discovered A Dissimilarity With the Findings From The Board of Substance Abuse Professionals
The students also had a problem with the second ranked answer given by the alcohol dependency experts, that is to say, “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 students that this sign does not automatically signify that the problem is alcohol addiction, but that it does underline the need that people who are addicted to alcohol have to drink in order to avert alcohol withdrawals.
After Miss Benning explained the importance of alcohol withdrawal symptoms in the life of the individual who is addicted to alcohol, the pupils started to grasp the basic difference between alcohol abuse and alcoholism.
To add a sense of closure to the topic, Miss Benning asked the students 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 get alcoholism rehab?”
After about four or five minutes, Miss Benning asked for the students’ predictions. While many students figured that about 80 to 90 percent of alcohol addicted people would get alcohol addiction rehabilitation if they knew about the facts related to alcohol addiction signs and alcohol withdrawal symptoms, most of the pupils reasoned that this number would not be less than 65 percent.
The Pupils Were Amazed to Discover That Only 25% of Alcohol Dependent People in the U.S. Get Alcohol Rehabilitation
To the astonishment of most of the pupils, Miss Benning declared that according to different scientific examinations, only 25% of the alcohol dependent people in the U.S. get alcohol dependency rehab. This amazed most of the pupils because they reasoned that first-hand knowledge of the overwhelming statistics and facts linked to alcoholism would motivate most of the alcoholics to seek alcohol rehab.
Miss Benning then explained that people who are alcohol dependent not only need alcohol on a daily basis in order to function but they also need alcohol on a daily basis so they can avoid possible alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Obviously, the alcohol addicted individual’s need to drink on a daily basis is more powerful than facts or logic. To be sure, due to the fact that the need for alcohol is “reality” to the alcoholic, this is a challenging issue that is hard to counteract.
The Combination of Mental Health Issues and Alcohol Dependency Regularly Results in Issues in Loving Friendships and Relationships
Finally, Miss Benning explained to the pupils in her class that it is important to understand that alcoholism and various mental health predicaments such as depression are highly correlated. Not only this but the occurrence of mental health problems and alcohol addiction often lead to difficulties in loving friendships and relationships
The Pupils are Enthused to Learn About Alcohol Addiction Symptoms and Signs in Today’s Society
A few minutes later the bell rang, meaning that the end of class had arrived. Based on the excitement manifested by the pupils when they were leaving the room, Miss Benning knew that she had inspired and encouraged the pupils in her classroom to stop and think about a vital health and social problem that exists in our culture.
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