A Health Teacher in the Most Underfinanced Co-Educational High School in the Region Instructs Her Pupils About the Relevance of Alcohol Dependency Signs in Today’s Society
Miss Benning was a health teacher at the most underfinanced co-educational high school in the state. Although she had been teaching for only two years, she had already obtained a reputation as a person with teaching approaches that encouraged and motivated students to think and to learn.
For instance, one Tuesday 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 general perspective and we are also going to learn about some of the most common signs of alcoholism from a less general and more detailed viewpoint.”
“Not all of these alcoholism signs will categorically confirm that a drinker with a drinking problem is an alcohol dependent person, but the more signs that an individual manifests, the greater the probability that he or she is a person who is addicted to alcohol.”
Miss Benning then explained to the the students that each student would be accountable for studying two alcohol dependence signs and then presenting his or her results to the rest of the class via a ten minute oral presentation.
The Students are Keyed Up About Giving A Broad-Based Presentation to Their Fellow Students About The Signs of Alcohol Dependency
After learning about the diverse signs of alcohol dependency for a number of days, the time had arrived for the student presentations. It was at once obvious that the students were energized about the subject matter because the information that they presented was excellent. To say that Miss Benning was pleasantly surprised with the fervor manifested by her students 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 addiction signs that were discussed and presented in the presentations and in class. Miss Benning then asked the pupils in her class to study the list and rank the top six alcoholism signs that were most indicative of alcohol addiction. After approximately fifteen minutes, Miss Benning collected the pieces of paper and informed her pupils that after she studies the numbers, she will reveal her findings the next school day.
There was some real excitement by the students while they were leaving Miss Benning’s classroom. One could swear that her students couldn’t wait for the next day to come so that they could find out the outcome of their in-class research.
The Pupils Match Their Answers Against the Findings From A Team of Alcoholism Authorities
When the next school day finally arrived, Miss Benning passed out a piece of paper that listed the top four alcohol dependency signs according to the pupils’ rankings. To the right 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 stood for the answers that were articulated by a board of alcoholism authorities.
Miss Benning told her pupils to go over the data on the piece of paper she handed out and then to raise their hand if they had any questions, concerns, or issues. Within 20 or 30 seconds, almost every student in the classroom raised her or his hand. It was clear to see that the students had some questions, issues, or concerns about their results versus the answers given by the specialists. For instance, just about every student disagreed with the highest ranked answer given by the authorities, namely, “Do you feel exceptionally sick when you quit drinking?”
The Principal Difference Between Alcohol Abuse and Alcohol Dependency is the Physical Addiction That is Experienced With Alcoholism and Not With Alcohol Abuse
Miss Benning then told the pupils in her class why this answer was the most straightforward indicator of alcohol dependency. She pointed out that the major difference between alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency is the physical dependency that is experienced with alcohol addiction and not with alcohol abuse.
For all intents and purposes this means that when an alcoholic suddenly stops drinking, he or she will suffer through alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
Miss Benning then explained to the students in her classroom that alcohol withdrawal symptoms are responses by the brain and by the body to the deprivation of alcohol to which they had become acclimated. Stated differently, alcohol withdrawal symptoms are messages from the brain and from the body telling a person who is addicted to alcohol that something is exceedingly out of kilter and needs to be fixed. These signals consist of several dangerous, uncomfortable, and painful withdrawal symptoms that can possibly lead to an individual’s death if the appropriate therapy is not promptly obtained.
Miss Benning then went over the host of alcohol withdrawal symptoms that can be gone through when an alcohol dependent individual abruptly stops drinking.
The point that Miss Benning tried to highlight 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 sign or symptom that few, if any, people who engage in alcohol abuse ever experience is alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
To explain this as plainly as possible, Miss Benning underscored the fact that alcohol abusers, unlike individuals who are addicted to alcohol, are not alcohol dependent and as a consequence, when they quit drinking, they almost never go through alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
The Pupils Think They Have Discovered An Irregularity With the Findings From The Board of Drug and Alcohol Addiction Professionals
The students also had a problem with the second ranked answer given by the alcoholism experts, to be exact, “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 informed the pupils in her classroom that this sign does not inevitably imply that the problem is alcoholism, but that it does underline the need that alcoholics have to drink in order to avert alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
After Miss Benning explained the importance of alcohol withdrawal symptoms in the life of the alcohol dependent person, the pupils started to appreciate the primary difference between alcohol abuse and alcoholism.
To add a sense of closure to the topic, Miss Benning asked the pupils in her class 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 dependency signs we have studied, what percentage of them do you think would seek alcohol addiction rehabilitation?”
After about two or three minutes, Miss Benning asked for the students’ predictions. While many pupils reasoned that around 75 to 85 percent of alcohol addicted individuals would seek alcohol addiction rehab if they knew about the facts related to alcohol dependency signs and alcohol withdrawal symptoms, most of the pupils reasoned that this number would not be less than 60 percent.
The Students Were Astonished to Learn That Only 25% of Alcohol Dependent Individuals in the U.S. Obtain Alcohol Addiction Rehabilitation
To the surprise of most of the students, Miss Benning stated that according to various scientific examinations, only 25% of the alcoholics in the United States obtain alcohol addiction rehabilitation. This shocked most of the students because they reasoned that first-hand knowledge of the gruesome facts and statistics linked to alcoholism would motivate the majority of the alcohol dependent individuals to get alcohol rehabilitation.
Miss Benning then explained that people who are alcohol dependent not only need alcohol on a daily basis in order to function but they also need alcohol everyday so they can prevent possible alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Clearly, the alcohol addicted individual’s need to drink on a daily basis is more powerful than facts or logic. Undeniably, since the desire for alcohol is “reality” to the alcohol dependent individual, this is a challenging issue that is difficult to counteract.
A few minutes later the bell rang, signaling the end of class. Based on the excitement displayed by the students when they were leaving the room, Miss Benning realized that she had encouraged and motivated the pupils in her classroom to stop and think about a noteworthy health and social problem that exists in our culture.