Miss Benning was a health instructor at the most underfinanced parochial high school in the district. Although she had been teaching for only two or three years, she had already achieved a reputation as a person with teaching techniques that inspired and encouraged students to think and to learn.
For example, one Thursday morning at 10:00 she addressed the pupils in her classroom and said the following: “For the next four or five days we are going to learn about some basic alcoholism facts from a general viewpoint and we are also going to learn about several of the most highly researched signs of alcoholism from a less general and more explicit point of view.
Not all of these alcoholism signs will unquestionably demonstrate that a drinker with a drinking problem is an alcohol addicted person, but the more signs that a drinker displays, the greater the likelihood that he or she is an individual who is alcohol dependent.”
Miss Benning then told the students in the class that each pupil would be accountable for studying two alcohol dependence signs and then presenting his or her findings to the other members in the class via a six minute oral presentation.
The Pupils are Wound Up About Giving A Detailed Presentation to Their Fellow Pupils About Alcoholism Signs
After learning about the diverse signs of alcohol dependency for several days, the time had come for the student presentations. It was instantaneously noticeable that the pupils were excited about the subject matter because the material that they presented was first-rate. To say that Miss Benning was pleasantly surprised with the fervor displayed by her pupils regarding this subject matter was an understatement.
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 addiction signs that were discussed and presented in class and in the presentations. Miss Benning then asked the students in her classroom to go over the list and rank the top ten alcohol addiction signs that were most indicative of alcohol addiction. After approximately fifteen minutes, Miss Benning collected the sheets of paper and told her students that after she tallies the numbers, she will discuss her findings the next school day.
There was some real excitement by the students while they were walking out of 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 outcome of their in-class research.
The Students Match Their Results Against the Appraisals From A Board of Alcoholism Experts
When the next school day finally came, Miss Benning passed out a sheet of paper that listed the top three alcohol addiction signs according to the students’ rankings. To the left of these results, she added another column that was labeled “experts’ answer.” She then told her pupils that the numbers in the extra column she added signified the conclusions that were stated publicly by a group of chemical dependency specialists.
Miss Benning told the pupils in her classroom to go over the numbers and then to raise their hand if they had any issues, concerns, or questions. Within 10 or 20 seconds, almost every student in the classroom raised his or her hand. It was apparent that the pupils had some issues, questions, or concerns about their results versus the answers given by the experts. As an illustration, virtually every individual in the class had an issue with the highest ranked answer given by the authorities, that is, “Do you feel very nauseous when you refrain from drinking?”
The Essential Difference Between Alcohol Dependency and Alcohol Abuse is the Physical Dependency That is Experienced With Alcohol Addiction and Not With Alcohol Abuse
Miss Benning then informed her pupils why this answer was the most unambiguous sign of alcohol dependency. She pointed out the fact that the main difference between alcohol dependency and alcohol abuse is the physical addiction that is experienced with alcoholism and not with alcohol abuse.
Essentially this means that when an alcohol dependent person all of a sudden stops drinking, he or she will experience 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 lack of alcohol to which they had become accustomed. Stated more forcefully, alcohol withdrawal symptoms are signals from the body and from the brain telling a person who is addicted to alcohol that something is exceedingly out of kilter and needs to be fixed. These messages consist of several uncomfortable, dangerous, and painful withdrawal symptoms that can possibly result in a loss of life if the appropriate treatment is not promptly obtained.
Miss Benning then discussed the many diverse alcohol withdrawal symptoms that can be experienced when an alcohol addicted individual suddenly stops 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 articulate this as overtly as possible, Miss Benning pointed out that alcohol abusers, unlike alcohol dependent people, are not alcohol dependent and consequently, when they quit drinking, they almost never experience alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
The Students Think They Have Found An Indiscretion With the Findings From The Panel of Drug and Alcohol Abuse Specialists
The students also had a problem 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 told the pupils in her classroom that this sign does not necessarily signify that the problem is alcohol dependency, but that it does highlight the need that individuals who are addicted to alcohol have to drink in order to stay away from alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
After Miss Benning explained the relevance of alcohol withdrawal symptoms in the life of the alcohol addicted individual, the students started to recognize the essential difference between alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction.
To add a sense of closure to the subject, Miss Benning asked the pupils in her class to take out a sheet of paper and answer the following question: “if every individual 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 seek alcohol dependency rehab?”
After about four or five minutes, Miss Benning asked for the pupils’ predictions. While many pupils believed that about 70 to 80 percent of alcohol addicted individuals would seek alcoholism treatment if they knew about the facts related to alcohol withdrawal symptoms and alcoholism signs, most of the pupils thought that this number would not be less than 70 percent.
The Students Were Astonished to Learn That Only 25% of Individuals Who are Alcohol Dependent in the U.S. Get Alcohol Addiction Treatment
To the surprise 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. seek alcohol addiction rehab. This astonished most of the students because they figured that first hand experience of the gruesome statistics and facts associated with alcohol addiction would motivate most of the alcohol dependent individuals to get alcoholism rehabilitation.
Miss Benning then explained that alcohol dependent people not only need alcohol on an everyday basis in order to function but they also need alcohol everyday so they can avert possible alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Apparently, the alcohol addicted person’s need to drink on a daily basis is stronger than facts or logic. As a matter of fact, since the thirst for alcohol is “reality” to the person who is alcohol dependent, this is hard to negate.
A few minutes later the bell rang, indicating that the end of class had arrived. Based on the buzz manifested by the students when they were leaving the room, Miss Benning knew that she had inspired and motivated her pupils to stop and think about a significant health and social problem that exists in our country.