Miss Benning was a health instructor at the most underfinanced private high school in the district. Although she had been teaching for only five years, she had already obtained a reputation as an educator with teaching techniques that encouraged and motivated students to think and to learn.
As an illustration, one Wednesday morning at 11:30 she addressed her students and articulated the following: “For the next two weeks we are going to learn about some basic alcoholism facts from a more wide-ranging standpoint and we are also going to learn about a number of the most common signs of alcoholism from a more detailed viewpoint.
Not all of these alcoholism signs will beyond doubt validate that an individual with a drinking problem is an alcohol dependent person, but the more signs that a person manifests, the higher the probability that he or she is an alcohol addicted individual.”
Miss Benning then explained to the the pupils that each person would be responsible for examining four alcoholism signs and then presenting his or her results to the other class members via a six minute oral presentation.
The Students are Wound Up About Giving A Detailed Presentation to Their Fellow Students About The Signs of Alcohol Dependency
After learning about the various signs of alcohol addiction for a number of days, the time had finally arrived for the student presentations. It was instantaneously evident that the pupils in her class were excited about the subject matter because the information that they presented was excellent. To say that Miss Benning was pleasantly surprised with the interest exhibited by the students in her classroom concerning this topic 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 discussed and presented in the presentations and in class. Miss Benning then asked the students in her classroom to study the list and rank the top nine alcoholism signs that were most indicative of alcohol addiction. After approximately ten minutes, Miss Benning collected the sheets of paper and informed the students in her class that after she studies the results, she will discuss her findings the next school day.
There was a real buzz by the pupils while they were leaving Miss Benning’s classroom. One could swear that her pupils couldn’t wait for the next day to come so that they could learn about the results of their in-class research.
The Students Compare Their Results With the Assessments From A Council of Drug and Alcohol Addiction Professionals
When the next school day arrived, Miss Benning gave out a piece of paper that listed the top five alcohol addiction signs as per the students' rankings. To the right of these results, she added another column that was labeled “correct answer.” She then informed the students in her classroom that the numbers in the second column she added signified the findings that were announced by a team of drug and alcohol addiction experts.
Miss Benning told her students to go over the data on the sheet of paper she passed out and then to raise their hand if they had any concerns, questions, or issues. Within 10 or 20 seconds, just about every student in the classroom raised her or his hand. It was clear to see that the pupils had some concerns, questions, or issues about their results versus the answers given by the authorities. For instance, almost every individual in the classroom disagreed with the highest ranked answer given by the authorities, namely, “Do you feel very sick when you quit drinking?”
The Main Difference Between Alcohol Dependency and Alcohol Abuse is the Physical Addiction That is Experienced With Alcoholism and Not With Alcohol Abuse
Miss Benning then explained to the students in her classroom why this answer was the most unambiguous sign of alcoholism. She pointed out that the central difference between alcohol addiction and alcohol abuse is the physical dependency that is experienced with alcoholism and not with alcohol abuse.
Essentially 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 explained to the students in her class 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 forcefully, alcohol withdrawal symptoms are signals from the brain and from the body telling an individual who is alcohol dependent that something is very out of kilter and needs to be fixed. These messages consist of several dangerous, uncomfortable, and painful withdrawal symptoms that can potentially result in a loss of life if the proper treatment is not promptly obtained.
Miss Benning then discussed the many diverse alcohol withdrawal symptoms that can be experienced when an alcohol dependent person abruptly stops drinking.
The fact that Miss Benning tried to underline 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 sign or symptom 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 stressed the fact that alcohol abusers, unlike alcoholics, are not alcohol dependent and as a result, when they stop drinking, they almost never suffer from alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
The Pupils Think They Have Found A Contradiction With the Findings From The Panel of Alcoholism Experts
The students also some difficulty with the second ranked answer given by the substance abuse professionals, that is, “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 explained to the students in her classroom that this sign does not necessarily denote that the problem is alcoholism, but that it does emphasize the need that alcohol addicted people have to drink in order to avert alcohol withdrawals.
After Miss Benning explained the importance of alcohol withdrawal symptoms in the life of the alcohol dependent individual, the students started to recognize the fundamental difference between alcohol abuse and alcoholism.
To add a sense of closure to the subject matter, Miss Benning asked her pupils 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 obtain alcohol dependency treatment?”
After roughly four or five minutes, Miss Benning asked for the pupils' responses. While many students believed that about 85 to 95 percent of alcohol addicted individuals would seek alcohol rehabilitation if they knew about the facts related to alcohol dependency signs and alcohol withdrawal symptoms, most of the students reasoned that this number would not be less than 50 percent.
The Students Were Amazed to Learn That Only 25% of Alcohol Dependent People in the United States Get Alcohol Rehab
To the astonishment of most of the pupils, Miss Benning proclaimed that according to various scientific investigations, only 25% of the alcohol dependent people in the U.S. get alcohol dependency treatment. This astonished most of the pupils because they believed that first hand experience of the deplorable facts and statistics associated with alcoholism would motivate most of the alcohol dependent people to ask for alcohol addiction treatment.
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 keep away from possible alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Clearly, the alcohol dependent individual’s need to drink on a daily basis is more powerful than facts or logic. Indeed, because the thirst for alcohol is “reality” to the individual who is alcohol dependent, this is difficult to overcome.
A few minutes later the bell rang, signifying the end of the class. Based on the enthusiasm manifested by the pupils when they were leaving the room, Miss Benning knew that she had motivated and encouraged the pupils in her class to stop and think about a critical health and social problem that exists in our society.
