Miss Benning was a health teacher at the most popular co-educational high school in the county. Although she had been teaching for only two or three years, she had already established a reputation as an instructor with teaching approaches that inspired and encouraged her pupils to learn and to think.

For example, one Monday morning at 10:30 she addressed the students in her class and articulated the following: “For the next few 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 some of the most typical signs of alcoholism from a less general and more specific standpoint.”

“Not all of these alcoholism signs will beyond doubt confirm that someone with a drinking problem is an individual who is addicted to alcohol, but the more signs that a person manifests, the greater the possibility that he or she is an alcoholic.”

Miss Benning then told the the pupils that each individual would be held responsible for examining two alcohol dependence signs and then presenting his or her conclusions to the other members in the class via a ten minute oral presentation.

The Students are Wound Up About Giving A Detailed Presentation to Their Fellow Classmates About The Signs of Alcohol Dependency

After learning about the various alcohol addiction signs for quite a few days, the time had finally arrived for the individual presentations. It was instantaneously clear to see that the pupils in her class were energized about the topic because the information that they presented was first-rate. To say that Miss Benning was pleasantly surprised with the fervor displayed 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 dependency signs that were presented and discussed in the presentations and in class. Miss Benning then asked her pupils to go over the list and rank the top six alcohol dependency signs that were most indicative of alcoholism. After approximately twenty minutes, Miss Benning collected the sheets of paper and informed the pupils in her class that after she analyzes the results, she will present her findings the next school day.

There was a real buzz 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 results of their in-class research.

The Students Compare Their Numbers With the Findings From A Panel of Drug and Alcohol Abuse Authorities

When the next school day finally arrived, Miss Benning passed out a piece of paper that listed the top three alcoholism signs according to the students’ rankings. To the right of these results, she added another column that was labeled “experts’ answer.” She then told the pupils in her classroom that the numbers in the second column she added signified the conclusions that were stated publicly by a team of alcohol dependency authorities.

Miss Benning asked the students in her classroom to go over the data on the piece of paper she passed out and then to raise their hand if they had any questions, concerns, or issues. Within 20 or 30 seconds, virtually every pupil in the classroom 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 authorities. For instance, virtually every person in the class disagreed with the highest ranked answer given by the experts, to be exact, “Do you feel extremely nauseous when you abstain from drinking?”

The Most Important Difference Between Alcohol Abuse and Alcohol Dependency is the Physical Addiction That is Experienced With Alcohol Dependency and Not With Alcohol Abuse

Miss Benning then informed her pupils why this answer was the most clear-cut indicator of alcohol dependency. She pointed out the fact that the principal difference between alcohol dependency and alcohol abuse is the physical dependency that is experienced with alcohol dependency and not with alcohol abuse.

Primarily this means that when an alcoholic all of a sudden stops drinking, he or she will experience alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

Miss Benning then explained to the students in her class that alcohol withdrawal symptoms are responses by the body and by the brain to the deficit of alcohol to which they had become acclimated. Stated another way, alcohol withdrawal symptoms are signals from the brain and from the body telling an alcohol addicted individual that something is dreadfully incorrect and needs to be fixed. These messages consist of several uncomfortable, dangerous, and painful withdrawal symptoms that can potentially result in a loss of life if the proper therapy is not promptly obtained.

Miss Benning then discussed the many diverse alcohol withdrawal symptoms that can be gone through when a person who is alcohol dependent suddenly quits 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, alcohol abusers ever experience is alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

To state this as precisely as possible, Miss Benning pointed out that alcohol abusers, unlike individuals who are addicted to alcohol, are not alcohol dependent and as a result, when they stop drinking, they almost never suffer from alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

The Students Think They Have Found A Dissimilarity With the Findings From The Team of Drug and Alcohol Abuse Authorities

The pupils also had an issue with the second ranked answer given by the alcoholism specialists, to be precise, “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 students in her classroom that this sign does not necessarily indicate that the problem is alcohol dependency, but that it does underline the need that alcohol addicted people have to drink in order to keep away from alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

After Miss Benning explained the significance of alcohol withdrawal symptoms in the life of the alcohol dependent person, the pupils started to comprehend the primary difference between alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction.

To add a sense of closure to the topic, Miss Benning asked the pupils in her classroom to take out a sheet of paper and answer the following question: “if every person who is addicted to alcohol 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 alcohol addiction treatment?”

After about one or two minutes, Miss Benning asked for the pupils’ answers. While many pupils believed that around 70 to 80 percent of alcohol addicted individuals would get alcoholism treatment if they knew about the facts related to alcoholism signs and alcohol withdrawal symptoms, most of the students believed that this number would not be less than 70 percent.

The Students Were Surprised to Learn That Only 25% of Alcohol Addicted Individuals in the U.S. Obtain Alcoholism Rehab

To the surprise of most of the pupils, Miss Benning proclaimed that according to different scientific investigations, only 25% of the individuals who are addicted to alcohol in the U.S. ask for alcoholism rehab. This amazed most of the students because they figured that first hand experience of the abysmal facts and statistics linked to alcohol addiction would motivate the majority of the people who are addicted to alcohol to seek alcohol dependency rehab.

Miss Benning then explained that alcoholics not only need alcohol on a daily basis in order to function but they also need alcohol on an everyday basis so they can prevent possible alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Evidently, the alcohol dependent person’s need to drink on a daily basis is stronger than logic or facts. To be sure, since the thirst for alcohol is “reality” to the alcohol dependent person, this is a demanding issue that is difficult to overcome.

The Combination of Alcohol Addiction and Mental Health Difficulties Often Results in Friendship, Marital, Relationship, and Divorce Problems

Finally, Miss Benning told her students that it is important to comprehend that alcohol addiction and various mental health difficulties such as depression are highly interlinked. In addition, the combination of mental health issues and alcohol dependency commonly result in marital, friendship, relationship, and divorce problems.

The Pupils are Enthused to Learn About Alcoholism Symptoms and Signs in Today’s Society

A few minutes later the bell rang, signifying the end of the class. Based on the buzz exhibited by the pupils when they were leaving the room, Miss Benning knew that she had motivated and inspired the students in her classroom to stop and think about a noteworthy health and social problem that exists in our society. It was clear to see that her pupils also learned how to boost their self esteem, positive attitude, and personal success and happiness.

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