Miss Benning was a health instructor at the best known parochial high school in the region. Although she had been teaching for only four years, she had already gained a reputation as an educator with a teaching methodology that motivated and stimulated her pupils to think and to learn.
For instance, one Thursday morning at 8:00 she addressed the pupils in her classroom and articulated the following: “For the next few days we are going to learn about some basic alcoholism facts from a general perspective and we are also going to learn about a number of the best known signs of alcoholism from a more specific standpoint.”
“Not all of these alcoholism signs will without doubt confirm that a drinker with a drinking problem is an individual who is alcohol dependent, but the more signs that a person displays, the greater the probability that he or she is an alcohol dependent individual.”
Miss Benning then explained to the the students that each student would be responsible for studying two alcohol dependence signs and then presenting his or her results to the other members in the class via a seven minute oral presentation.
The Pupils are Keyed Up About Giving An In-Depth Presentation to Their Fellow Pupils About The Signs of Alcoholism
After learning about the various signs of alcohol addiction for several days, the time had finally come for the individual presentations. It was immediately evident that her students were energized about the subject matter because the material that they presented was outstanding. To say that Miss Benning was pleasantly surprised with the eagerness exhibited by her pupils regarding this subject matter 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 class and in the presentations. Miss Benning then asked the pupils in her classroom to study the list and rank the top eight alcohol addiction signs that were most indicative of alcohol addiction. After approximately five minutes, Miss Benning collected the sheets of paper and explained to the pupils in her classroom that after she examines the results, she will present her findings the next school day.
There was some real excitement by the students while they were walking out of 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 results of their in-class research.
The Students Contrast Their Results With the Findings From A Group of Alcoholism Experts
When the next school day came, Miss Benning handed out a piece of paper that listed the top three alcohol addiction signs as per the pupils’ rankings. Next to these results, she included another column that was labeled “experts’ answer.” She then told her pupils that the numbers in the new column she added stood for the responses that were announced by a team of drug and alcohol addiction authorities.
Miss Benning told the pupils in her class to go over the information she passed out and then to raise their hand if they had any questions, concerns, or issues. Within 10 or 20 seconds, just about every student in the class raised his or her hand. It was obvious that the pupils had some issues, concerns, or questions about their results versus the answers given by the experts. As an illustration, just about every student disagreed with the highest ranked answer given by the specialists, to be precise, “Do you feel very ill when you refrain from drinking?”
The Main Difference Between Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse is the Physical Addiction That is Experienced With Alcohol Addiction and Not With Alcohol Abuse
Miss Benning then informed the pupils in her classroom why this answer was the most correct sign of alcoholism. She underscored the fact that the foremost difference between alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency is the physical addiction that is experienced with alcohol dependency and not with alcohol abuse.
Basically this means that when an alcohol dependent person suddenly stops drinking, he or she will go through alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
Miss Benning then told her pupils that alcohol withdrawal symptoms are responses by the body and by the brain to the deprivation of alcohol to which they had become acclimated. Stated more forcefully, alcohol withdrawal symptoms are messages from the brain and from the body telling an individual who is alcohol dependent that something is extremely wrong and needs to be rectified. These messages consist of a number of uncomfortable, dangerous, and painful withdrawal symptoms that can possibly lead to someone’s death if the appropriate treatment is not immediately obtained.
Miss Benning then went over the many diverse alcohol withdrawal symptoms that can be experienced when a person who is alcohol dependent suddenly stops drinking.
The fact that Miss Benning tried to underline was this: an alcohol abuser can experience almost any and every one of the alcoholism 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 plainly as possible, Miss Benning emphasized the point that alcohol abusers, unlike alcohol dependent people, are not alcohol dependent and consequently, when they stop drinking, they almost never suffer from alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
The Pupils Think They Have Discovered A Discrepancy With the Findings From The Board of Chemical Dependency Experts
The students also disagreed with the second ranked answer given by the alcoholism 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 explained to the students in her classroom that this sign does not necessarily indicate that the problem is alcohol addiction, but that it does emphasize the need that individuals who are alcohol dependent have to drink in order to keep away from alcohol withdrawals.
After Miss Benning explained the significance of alcohol withdrawal symptoms in the life of the alcohol dependent individual, the pupils started to appreciate the fundamental difference between alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency.
To add a sense of closure to the subject, Miss Benning asked her pupils to take out a piece of paper and answer the following question: “if every individual who is an alcoholic knew about every one of the alcoholism signs and alcohol withdrawal symptoms we have studied, what percentage of them do you think would obtain alcohol treatment?”
After about two or three minutes, Miss Benning asked for the students’ responses. While many students reasoned that roughly 70 to 80 percent of alcohol addicted individuals would seek alcohol addiction 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 65 percent.
The Students Were Amazed to Find Out That Only 25% of People Who are Alcohol Dependent in the United States Seek Alcohol Rehabilitation
To the amazement of most of the pupils, Miss Benning mentioned that according to various scientific investigations, only 25% of the people who are alcohol dependent in the U.S. ask for alcohol dependency rehab. This astonished most of the students because they believed that first hand experience of the alarming facts and statistics associated with alcohol dependency would motivate the majority of the people who are alcohol dependent to ask for alcoholism rehab.
Miss Benning then stated that alcoholics not only need alcohol on a daily basis in order to function but they also need alcohol everyday so they can avoid possible alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Evidently, the alcoholic’s need to drink on a daily basis is stronger than logic or facts. To be sure, because the desire for alcohol is “reality” to the alcohol dependent individual, this is a thorny issue that is hard to reverse.
The Incidence of Mental Health Issues and Alcohol Dependency Commonly Leads to Relationship, Divorce, Friendship, and Marital Problems
Finally, Miss Benning told the pupils in her class that it is important to comprehend that alcoholism and a variety of mental health predicaments like depression are highly related. Additionally, the occurrence of alcoholism and mental health difficulties frequently result in marital, friendship, divorce, and relationship problems.
The Students are Enthused to Learn About Alcoholism Symptoms and Signs in Today’s Society
A few minutes later the bell rang, indicating the end of the class. Based on the enthusiasm manifested by the pupils when they were leaving the classroom, Miss Benning recognized that she had encouraged and stimulated the students in her class to stop and think about an important health and social problem that exists in our society. Clearly, her students also learned how to fortify their personal happiness and success, positive attitude, and self esteem.
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