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Miss Benning was a health instructor at the most financially challenged co-ed high school in the district. Even though she had been teaching for only four years, she had already gained a reputation as an educator with instructional methods that inspired and stimulated pupils to think and to learn.
For example, one Tuesday morning at 8:00 she addressed her students and said the following: “For the next two or three days we are going to learn about some basic alcoholism facts from a more wide-ranging point of view and we are also going to learn about several of the most highly researched signs of alcoholism from a less general and more specific standpoint.”
“Not all of these alcoholism signs will positively substantiate that a drinker with a drinking problem is an individual who is addicted to alcohol, 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 class members that each student would be held responsible for studying two alcoholism signs and then presenting his or her results to the other class members via a twenty minute oral presentation.
The Students are Keyed Up About Giving A Detailed Presentation to Their Fellow Classmates About Alcoholism Signs
After learning about the different alcohol addiction signs for several days, the time had arrived for the individual presentations. It was instantaneously evident that her pupils were energized about the subject matter because the information that they presented was first-rate. To say that Miss Benning was pleasantly surprised with the fervor displayed by the students in her classroom regarding this subject could not be overstated.
The day after all of the pupils 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 class and in the presentations. Miss Benning then asked the students in her class to go over the list and rank the top five alcohol dependency signs that were most indicative of alcoholism. After approximately five minutes, Miss Benning collected the pieces of paper and told her pupils that after she assesses the results, she will discuss her findings the next school day.
There was some real excitement by the students while they were exiting Miss Benning’s class. One could swear that her pupils couldn’t wait for the next day to arrive so that they could find out the outcome of their in-class research.
The Pupils Compare Their Numbers With the Assessments From A Panel of Alcohol Dependency Specialists
When the next school day came, Miss Benning passed out a sheet of paper that listed the top four alcohol dependency signs according to the pupils’ rankings. To the right of these results, she included another column that was labeled “correct response.” She then explained to the pupils in her classroom that the numbers in the new column she added represented the conclusions that were given by a group of drug and alcohol abuse experts.
Miss Benning asked the pupils in her class to go over the data on the piece of paper she passed out and then to raise their hand if they had any concerns, issues, or questions. Within 30 or 40 seconds, virtually every student in the class raised her or his hand. It was noticeable that the students had some questions, issues, or concerns about their results versus the answers given by the specialists. As an illustration, virtually every individual in the classroom disagreed with the highest ranked answer given by the authorities, specifically, “Do you feel unusually sick when you stop drinking?”
The Most Important Difference Between Alcohol Abuse and Alcohol Addiction is the Physical Addiction That is Experienced With Alcohol Addiction and Not With Alcohol Abuse
Miss Benning then explained to the students in her classroom why this answer was the most straightforward indicator of alcohol addiction. She underscored the fact that the central difference between alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency is the physical addiction that is experienced with alcoholism and not with alcohol abuse.
In essence this means that when a person who is addicted to alcohol abruptly quits drinking, he or she will suffer through alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
Miss Benning then told the students in her class that alcohol withdrawal symptoms are responses by the brain and by the body to the lack of alcohol to which they had become acclimated. Stated another way, alcohol withdrawal symptoms are messages from the body and from the brain telling an individual who is alcohol dependent that something is extremely wrong and needs to be rectified. These signals consist of several uncomfortable, dangerous, and painful withdrawal symptoms that can possibly lead to a person’s death if the appropriate treatment is not promptly undertaken.
Miss Benning then listed the multitude of alcohol withdrawal symptoms that can be gone through when an individual who is alcohol dependent abruptly quits drinking.
The fact 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 state this as precisely as possible, Miss Benning underscored the fact that alcohol abusers, unlike alcohol dependent people, are not alcohol dependent and consequently, when they quit drinking, they almost never go through alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
The Pupils Believe They Have Uncovered An Indiscretion With the Findings From The Council of Substance Abuse Authorities
The pupils also disagreed with the second ranked answer given by the alcohol dependency professionals, that is to say, “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 told the students in her class that this sign does not inevitably signify that the problem is alcohol addiction, but that it does highlight the need that people who are addicted to alcohol have to drink in order to steer clear of alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
After Miss Benning explained the significance of alcohol withdrawal symptoms in the life of the person who is alcohol dependent, the students started to comprehend the key difference between alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction.
To add a sense of closure to the subject matter, Miss Benning asked the students 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 obtain alcoholism rehab?”
After roughly two or three minutes, Miss Benning asked for the pupils’ predictions. While many pupils figured that around 70 to 80 percent of alcoholics would seek alcohol treatment if they knew about the facts related to alcoholism signs and alcohol withdrawal symptoms, most of the students reasoned that this number would not be less than 70 percent.
The Pupils Were Amazed to Learn That Only 25% of People Who are Alcohol Dependent in the U.S. Get Alcohol Dependency Treatment
To the astonishment of most of the students, Miss Benning declared that according to the research literature, only 25% of the people who are alcohol dependent in the United States get alcohol dependency treatment. This amazed most of the pupils because they believed that first hand experie
nce of the overwhelming facts and statistics related to alcohol addiction would motivate most of the alcohol dependent people to get alcohol addiction treatment.
Miss Benning then stated that individuals who are alcohol dependent not only need alcohol on an everyday basis in order to function but they also require alcohol on a daily basis so they can prevent possible alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Evidently, the alcoholic’s need to drink on a daily basis is more powerful than facts or logic. Indeed, since the thirst for alcohol is “reality” to the person who is alcohol dependent, this is very hard to overcome.
A few minutes later the bell rang, indicating the end of the class. Based on the enthusiasm manifested by the students when they were leaving the room, Miss Benning realized that she had stimulated and encouraged the pupils in her classroom to stop and think about a vital health and social problem that exists in our country.
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