Miss Benning was a health instructor at the most underfinanced co-ed high school in the county. Even though she had been teaching for only two years, she had already gained a reputation as a person with a teaching methodology that inspired and encouraged the pupils in her class to think and to learn.
For instance, one Tuesday morning at 10:00 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 general standpoint and we are also going to learn about several of the most typical signs of alcoholism from a more detailed viewpoint.”
“Not all of these alcoholism signs will unquestionably reveal that a drinker with a drinking problem is an individual who is addicted to alcohol, but the more signs that a person manifests, the stronger the probability that he or she is an alcohol dependent person.”
Miss Benning then explained to the students in the class that each student would be held responsible for studying two alcoholism signs and then presenting his or her conclusions to the rest of the class via a eight minute oral presentation.
The Students are Wound Up About Giving A Thorough Presentation to Their Fellow Pupils About The Signs of Alcohol Dependency
After learning about the diverse signs of alcoholism for a number of days, the time had finally arrived for the oral presentations. It was instantly noticeable that the pupils were wound up about the subject because the information that they presented was excellent. To say that Miss Benning was pleasantly surprised with the enthusiasm displayed by the pupils in her class 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 addiction signs that were presented and discussed in the presentations and in class. Miss Benning then asked the pupils in her class to go over the list and rank the top nine alcohol dependency signs that were most indicative of alcohol dependency. After roughly twenty minutes, Miss Benning collected the sheets of paper and explained to the students in her class that after she assesses the results, she will present her findings the next school day.
There was some real excitement by the students while they were exiting 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 outcome of their in-class research.
The Pupils Compare Their Numbers With the Evaluations From A Panel of Drug and Alcohol Abuse Authorities
When the next school day came, Miss Benning handed out a sheet of paper that listed the top four alcoholism signs as per the students’ rankings. To the right of these results, she included another column that was labeled “experts’ response.” She then informed her pupils that the numbers in the extra column she added signified the responses that were put together by a board of alcohol addiction specialists.
Miss Benning asked the pupils in her classroom to look over the information she passed out and then to raise their hand if they had any concerns, questions, or issues. Within 30 or 40 seconds, virtually every pupil in the class raised his or her hand. It was obvious that the pupils had some questions, concerns, or issues about their results versus the answers given by the specialists. For instance, almost every individual in the classroom disagreed with the highest ranked answer given by the experts, to be exact, “Do you feel really ill when you quit drinking?”
The Essential Difference Between Alcohol Dependency and Alcohol Abuse is the Physical Dependency 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 precise indicator of alcohol dependency. She emphasized the fact that the essential difference between alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction is the physical dependency that is experienced with alcohol dependency and not with alcohol abuse.
Essentially this means that when an individual who is alcohol dependent all of a sudden stops drinking, he or she will experience alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
Miss Benning then explained to her students that alcohol withdrawal symptoms are responses by the brain and by the body to the deficiency of alcohol to which they had become acclimated. Stated more forcefully, alcohol withdrawal symptoms are signals from the body and from the brain telling an individual who is alcohol dependent that something is extremely misaligned and needs to be rectified. These signals consist of a number of uncomfortable, painful, and dangerous withdrawal symptoms that can potentially result in an individual’s death if the appropriate treatment is not promptly obtained.
Miss Benning then listed the many different alcohol withdrawal symptoms that can be gone through when an alcoholic 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 alcohol addiction signs that the students had ranked, but the one sign or symptom that few, if any, people who engage in alcohol abuse ever experience is alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
To articulate this as overtly as possible, Miss Benning underscored the point that alcohol abusers, unlike alcoholics, are not alcohol dependent and accordingly, when they quit drinking, they almost never go through alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
The Pupils Think They Have Uncovered A Deviation With the Findings From The Group of Alcoholism Specialists
The pupils also had an issue with the second ranked answer given by the drug and alcohol abuse professionals, specifically, “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 necessarily suggest 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 avoid alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
After Miss Benning explained the importance of alcohol withdrawal symptoms in the life of the alcoholic, the pupils started to grasp the basic difference between alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency.
To add a sense of closure to the subject, Miss Benning asked the students in her classroom to take out a sheet of paper and answer the following question: “if every individual who is alcohol dependent knew about every one of the alcohol withdrawal symptoms and alcohol dependency signs we have studied, what percentage of them do you think would seek alcohol addiction rehab?”
After roughly two or three minutes, Miss Benning asked for the pupils’ answers. While many students believed that roughly 70 to 80 percent of individuals who are addicted to alcohol would get alcoholism rehab if they knew about the facts related to alcoholism signs and alcohol withdrawal symptoms, most of the pupils reasoned that this number would not be less than 55 percent.
The Students Were Surprised to Learn That Only 25% of Individuals Who are Addicted to Alcohol in the United States Obtain Alcohol Addiction Rehabilitation
To the astonishment of most of the pupils, Miss Benning stated that according to various scientific investigations, only 25% of the individuals who are addicted to alcohol in the United States get alcohol addiction rehab. This amazed most of the pupils because they believed that first hand experience of the overwhelming facts and statistics associated with alcohol dependency would motivate most of the alcohol dependent people to ask for alcohol dependency rehab.
Miss Benning then explained that people who are addicted to alcohol not only need alcohol on a daily basis in order to function but they also need alcohol everyday so they can keep away from possible alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Obviously, the alcohol addicted individual’s need to drink on a daily basis is stronger than logic or facts. In actual fact, since the desire for alcohol is “reality” to the person who is addicted to alcohol, this is a demanding issue that is hard to change.
The Combination of Mental Health Problems and Alcoholism Regularly Leads to Difficulties in Loving Relationships and Friendships
Lastly, Miss Benning told pupils that it is important to realize that alcohol dependency and various mental health difficulties such as depression are highly correlated. What is more, the incidence of mental health problems and alcoholism frequently lead to issues in loving friendships and relationships
The Students are Inspired to Learn About Alcohol Dependency Symptoms and Signs in Today’s Society
A few minutes later the bell rang, indicating the end of the class. Based on the buzz displayed by the pupils when they were leaving the room, Miss Benning recognized that she had motivated and stimulated her pupils to stop and think about a significant health and social problem that exists in our society.
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