Miss Benning was a health instructor at the most underfinanced co-educational high school in the local community. Although she had been teaching for only two or three years, she had already obtained a reputation as an educator with educational methods that encouraged and inspired the pupils in her class to learn and to think.
For instance, one Wednesday morning at 9:30 she addressed her pupils and articulated the following: “For the next three or four days we are going to learn about some basic alcoholism facts from a general standpoint and we are also going to learn about several of the most familiar signs of alcoholism from a more specific point of view.”
“Not all of these alcoholism signs will definitely substantiate that someone with a drinking problem is an individual who is alcohol dependent, but the more signs that a drinker displays, the more likely it is that he or she is a person who is addicted to alcohol.”
Miss Benning then informed the students in the class that each pupil would be held responsible for examining three alcoholism signs and then presenting his or her findings to the other members in the class via a ten minute oral presentation.
The Pupils are Enthused About Giving A Detailed Presentation to Their Fellow Students About The Signs of Alcohol Dependency
After learning about the different alcohol dependency signs for several days, the time had finally come for the student presentations. It was immediately noticeable that the students in her class were excited about the topic because the material that they presented was extraordinary. To say that Miss Benning was pleasantly surprised with the passion manifested by the pupils in her classroom regarding this subject matter could not be overstated.
The day after all of the students completed their presentations, Miss Benning passed out a sheet 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 students in her class to study the list and rank the top five alcohol addiction signs that were most indicative of alcohol addiction. After approximately five minutes, Miss Benning collected the sheets of paper and told the pupils in her classroom that after she goes over the numbers, she will present her findings the next school day.
There was some real anticipation by the students while they were walking out of Miss Benning’s classroom. 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 Contrast Their Results With the Assessments From A Board of Alcoholism Experts
When the next school day finally came, Miss Benning gave out a sheet of paper that listed the top five alcohol addiction signs according to the pupils’ rankings. To the right of these results, she included another column that was labeled “correct answer.” She then explained to the pupils in her classroom that the numbers in the extra column she added signified the conclusions that were stated publicly by a group of alcohol dependency authorities.
Miss Benning told the pupils in her class to look over the information on the sheet of paper she handed out and then to raise their hand if they had any questions, concerns, or issues. Within 30 or 40 seconds, virtually every student in the class raised her or his hand. It was evident that the students had some issues, questions, or concerns about their results versus the answers given by the professionals. For instance, just about every person in the class had an issue with the highest ranked answer given by the authorities, namely, “Do you feel exceptionally sick when you abstain from drinking?”
The Major Difference Between Alcohol Abuse and Alcohol Addiction is the Physical Addiction That is Experienced With Alcohol Dependency and Not With Alcohol Abuse
Miss Benning then told her pupils why this answer was the most unambiguous indicator of alcohol dependency. She stressed the fact that the major difference between alcoholism and alcohol abuse is the physical addiction that is experienced with alcoholism and not with alcohol abuse.
In essence this means that when an alcohol dependent person all of a sudden stops drinking, he or she will suffer through alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
Miss Benning then told the pupils in her classroom that alcohol withdrawal symptoms are responses by the body and by the brain to the lack of alcohol to which they had become accustomed. Stated differently, alcohol withdrawal symptoms are messages from the brain and from the body telling an alcohol addicted individual that something is dreadfully misaligned and needs to be fixed. These messages consist of a number of dangerous, painful, and uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms that can possibly lead to a loss of life if the proper therapy is not promptly undertaken.
Miss Benning then went over the many diverse alcohol withdrawal symptoms that can be experienced when an alcohol dependent person abruptly quits drinking.
The fact that Miss Benning tried to stress was this: an alcohol abuser can experience almost any and every one of the alcohol dependency 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 explain this as precisely as possible, Miss Benning stressed the fact that alcohol abusers, unlike people who are addicted to alcohol, are not alcohol dependent and accordingly, when they quit drinking, they almost never suffer from alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
The Students Feel They Have Uncovered A Deviation With the Findings From The Council of Chemical Dependency Experts
The pupils also some difficulty with the second ranked answer given by the alcohol dependency specialists, that is, “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 students in her class that this sign does not necessarily indicate that the problem is alcoholism, but that it does stress the need that alcohol dependent individuals have to drink in order to avert alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
After Miss Benning explained the relevance of alcohol withdrawal symptoms in the life of the individual who is alcohol dependent, the pupils started to recognize the key difference between alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction.
To add a sense of closure to the subject, Miss Benning asked the students in her classroom to take out a piece of paper and answer the following question: “if every person who is alcohol dependent knew about every one of the alcohol withdrawal symptoms and alcohol addiction signs we have studied, what percentage of them do you think would seek alcohol treatment?”
After approximately five or six minutes, Miss Benning asked for the students’ predictions. While many students figured that around 70 to 80 percent of alcohol dependent people would ask for alcohol dependency rehab if they knew about the facts related to alcohol withdrawal symptoms and alcoholism signs, most of the students thought that this number would not be less than 60 percent.
The Students Were Astonished to Discover That Only 25% of Alcohol Dependent People in the United States Get Alcohol Dependency Treatment
To the amazement of most of the students, Miss Benning proclaimed that according to different scientific investigations, only 25% of the individuals who are alcohol dependent in the U.S. seek alcohol rehabilitation. This amazed most of the pupils because they thought that exposure to the shocking facts and statistics related to alcohol dependency would motivate the majority of the individuals who are alcohol dependent to obtain alcohol dependency rehabilitation.
Miss Benning then stated that people who are alcohol dependent not only need alcohol on an everyday basis 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 dependent person’s need to drink on a daily basis is more powerful than logic or facts. Definitely, due to the fact that the desire for alcohol is “reality” to the alcohol dependent person, this is a challenging issue that is hard to change.
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 classroom, Miss Benning knew that she had stimulated and inspired the pupils in her classroom to stop and think about a vital health and social problem that exists in our country.