Miss Benning was a health instructor at the most underfinanced parochial high school in the region. Even though she had been teaching for only three of four years, she had already obtained a reputation as a person with instructional methods that inspired and encouraged the pupils in her class to learn and to think.
For instance, one Friday morning at 9:30 she addressed the pupils in her classroom and said the following: “For the next three or four 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 familiar signs of alcoholism from a more specific perspective.”
“Not all of these alcoholism signs will definitely validate that someone with a drinking problem is a person who is alcohol dependent, but the more signs that a drinker displays, the more likely it is that he or she is an alcoholic.”
Miss Benning then informed the class that each person would be accountable for examining four alcoholism signs and then presenting his or her conclusions to the other members in the class via a twenty-five minute oral presentation.
The Students are Energized About Giving A Broad-Based Presentation to Their Fellow Students About Alcohol Dependency Signs
After learning about the diverse alcoholism signs for quite a few days, the time had come for the oral presentations. It was at once apparent that the students in her class were wound up about the subject matter because the information that they presented was outstanding. To say that Miss Benning was pleasantly surprised with the fervor exhibited by the students in her class regarding this topic 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 alcoholism signs that were presented and discussed in the presentations and in class. Miss Benning then asked the pupils in her classroom to study the list and rank the top five alcohol addiction signs that were most indicative of alcoholism. After around five minutes, Miss Benning collected the pieces of paper and explained to the pupils in her classroom that after she reviews the results, she will present her findings the next school day.
There was a real buzz by the pupils while they were exiting Miss Benning’s classroom. One could swear that her students couldn’t wait for the next day to arrive so that they could learn about the outcome of their in-class research.
The Students Compare Their Numbers With the Findings From A Team of Alcohol Addiction Experts
When the next school day arrived, Miss Benning passed out a sheet of paper that listed the top five alcoholism signs as per the pupils’ rankings. Next to these results, she added another column that was labeled “correct response.” She then told the students in her classroom that the numbers in the additional column she added stood for the responses that were constructed by a council of alcohol dependency specialists.
Miss Benning asked the pupils in her class to look over the information on the piece of paper she passed out and then to raise their hand if they had any issues, concerns, or questions. Within 20 or 30 seconds, virtually every pupil in the class raised her or his hand. It was clear to see that the pupils had some issues, questions, or concerns about their results versus the answers given by the specialists. For instance, just about every individual in the class disagreed with the highest ranked answer given by the experts, that is, “Do you feel really sick when you quit drinking?”
The Primary 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 informed her pupils why this answer was the most accurate sign of alcohol addiction. She pointed out the fact that the foremost difference between alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency is the physical dependency that is experienced with alcohol dependency and not with alcohol abuse.
Primarily this means that when an alcohol addicted individual all of a sudden stops drinking, he or she will go through alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
Miss Benning then informed the students 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 more explicitly, alcohol withdrawal symptoms are messages from the brain and from the body telling an alcohol dependent person that something is very incorrect and needs to be fixed. These signals consist of a number of uncomfortable, painful, and dangerous withdrawal symptoms that can potentially lead to someone’s death if the appropriate therapy is not promptly received.
Miss Benning then discussed the many diverse alcohol withdrawal symptoms that can be experienced when an alcoholic suddenly quits drinking.
The point that Miss Benning tried to highlight was this: an individual who engages in alcohol abuse 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 state this as clearly as possible, Miss Benning stressed the point that alcohol abusers, unlike alcohol dependent individuals, are not alcohol dependent and accordingly, when they stop drinking, they almost never go through alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
The Students Think They Have Found A Deviation With the Findings From The Panel of Drug and Alcohol Abuse Authorities
The students also some difficulty with the second ranked answer given by the drug and alcohol abuse specialists, 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 explained to the students in her class that this sign does not inevitably indicate that the problem is alcoholism, but that it does point to the need that alcohol addicted individuals have to drink in order to keep away from alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
After Miss Benning explained the significance of alcohol withdrawal symptoms in the life of the person who is addicted to alcohol, the students started to understand the essential difference between alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction.
To add a sense of closure to the topic, Miss Benning asked her pupils to take out a piece of paper and answer the following question: “if every person who is addicted to alcohol knew about every one of the alcohol withdrawal symptoms and alcohol addiction signs we have studied, what percentage of them do you think would get alcohol rehab?”
After roughly three or four minutes, Miss Benning asked for the students’ predictions. While many students figured that around 75 to 85 percent of alcohol addicted individuals would get alcoholism rehabilitation if they knew about the facts related to alcoholism signs and alcohol withdrawal symptoms, most of the students figured that this number would not be less than 60 percent.
The Pupils Were Astonished to Find Out That Only 25% of Alcoholics in the United States Ask For Alcohol Addiction Rehabilitation
To the astonishment of most of the pupils, Miss Benning mentioned that according to different scientific examinations, only 25% of the alcohol addicted people in the U.S. obtain alcohol rehab. This surprised most of the students because they believed that exposure to the appalling statistics and facts correlated with alcohol addiction would motivate the majority of the alcohol dependent individuals to get alcoholism treatment.
Miss Benning then explained that people who are alcohol dependent not only need alcohol on an everyday basis in order to function but they also require alcohol everyday so they can prevent possible alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Obviously, the alcohol addicted person’s need to drink on a daily basis is stronger than facts or logic. As a matter of fact, due to the fact that the thirst for alcohol is “reality” to the alcohol dependent person, this is a challenging issue that is hard to overcome.
A few minutes later the bell rang, meaning that the end of class had arrived. Based on the buzz manifested by the students when they were leaving the classroom, Miss Benning realized that she had stimulated and inspired the pupils in her class to stop and think about a significant health and social problem that exists in our society.
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