Miss Benning was a health teacher at the most financially challenged private high school in the district. Even though she had been teaching for only one year, she had already obtained a reputation as a person with instructional techniques that stimulated and inspired the students in her class to think and to learn.

As an illustration, one Wednesday morning 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 more broad-based point of view and we are also going to learn about some of the most familiar signs of alcoholism from a less general and more detailed point of view.”

“Not all of these alcoholism signs will without doubt reveal that someone with a drinking problem is an alcohol addicted person, but the more signs that an individual displays, the higher the probability that he or she is an alcohol addicted individual.”

Miss Benning then explained to the members in the class that each individual would be accountable for investigating two alcohol addiction signs and then presenting his or her results to the rest of the class via a nine minute oral presentation.

The Students are Energized About Giving An Extensive Presentation to Their Fellow Classmates About Alcohol Dependency Signs

After learning about the different signs of alcoholism for a number of days, the time had finally arrived for the oral presentations. It was immediately noticeable that the students in her class were wound up about the subject matter because the information that they presented was first-rate. To say that Miss Benning was pleasantly surprised with the enthusiasm manifested by the pupils in her classroom concerning this subject 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 discussed and presented in the presentations and in class. Miss Benning then asked the students in her class to go over the list and rank the top eight alcoholism signs that were most indicative of alcohol dependency. After roughly five minutes, Miss Benning collected the sheets of paper and told the students in her class that after she examines the results, she will reveal her findings the next school day.

There was some real anticipation by the pupils while they were exiting Miss Benning’s class. One could swear that her pupils couldn’t wait for the next day to come so that they could learn about the results of their in-class research.

The Pupils Match Their Answers Against the Appraisals From A Team of Drug and Alcohol Abuse Professionals

When the next school day came, Miss Benning gave out a piece of paper that listed the top five alcohol addiction signs according to the pupils’ rankings. Next to these results, she added another column that was labeled “experts’ response.” She then told the students in her class that the numbers in the new column she added were the findings that were articulated by a team of alcoholism experts.

Miss Benning asked her students to look over the data on the sheet of paper she handed 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 clear to see that the pupils had some concerns, questions, or issues about their results versus the answers given by the experts. For instance, almost every individual in the class had an issue with the highest ranked answer given by the authorities, specifically, “Do you feel exceedingly sick when you quit drinking?”

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

Miss Benning then informed the pupils in her class why this answer was the most unambiguous sign of alcohol dependency. She pointed out the fact that the key difference between alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction is the physical addiction that is experienced with alcohol dependency and not with alcohol abuse.

In effect this means that when an alcohol dependent person abruptly quits drinking, he or she will suffer through alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

Miss Benning then informed the pupils 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 more precisely, alcohol withdrawal symptoms are messages from the body and from the brain telling an alcohol addicted person that something is terribly incorrect and needs to be rectified. These messages consist of a number of painful, uncomfortable, and dangerous withdrawal symptoms that can potentially lead to a person’s death if the proper treatment is not immediately received.

Miss Benning then went over the many different alcohol withdrawal symptoms that can be experienced when an alcoholic suddenly quits drinking.

The point that Miss Benning tried to emphasize was this: an individual who engages in alcohol abuse can experience almost any and every one of the alcohol dependency 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 exactly as possible, Miss Benning emphasized the fact that alcohol abusers, unlike alcohol dependent individuals, are not alcohol dependent and accordingly, when they stop drinking, they almost never go through alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

The Students Believe They Have Discovered An Indiscretion With the Findings From The Council of Alcohol Dependency Specialists

The pupils also some difficulty with the second ranked answer given by the drug and alcohol abuse professionals, that is to say, “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 pupils in her class 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 steer clear of alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

After Miss Benning explained the significance of alcohol withdrawal symptoms in the life of the alcohol dependent individual, the pupils started to understand the primary difference between alcohol abuse and alcoholism.

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 individual who is addicted to alcohol knew about every one of the alcohol withdrawal symptoms and alcohol addiction signs we have studied, what percentage of them do you think would ask for alcohol treatment?”

After roughly three or four minutes, Miss Benning asked for the pupils’ responses. While many students figured that roughly 75 to 85 percent of alcohol dependent people would get alcohol addiction rehabilitation if they knew about the facts related to alcohol withdrawal symptoms and alcohol dependency signs, most of the pupils thought that this number would not be less than 65 percent.

The Pupils Were Astonished to Discover That Only 25% of Alcohol Dependent Individuals in the U.S. Get Alcohol Addiction Rehabilitation

To the surprise of most of the pupils, Miss Benning mentioned that according to various scientific studies, only 25% of the individuals who are alcohol dependent in the United States ask for alcoholism rehab. This amazed most of the pupils because they thought that first-hand knowledge of the dreadful statistics and facts correlated with alcoholism would motivate the majority of the people who are alcohol dependent to get alcohol addiction rehabilitation.

Miss Benning then explained that individuals who are addicted to alcohol not only need alcohol on a daily basis in order to function but they also require alcohol on a daily basis so they can avert possible alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Evidently, the alcohol dependent person’s need to drink on a daily basis is stronger than logic or facts. Undeniably, since the craving for alcohol is “reality” to the individual who is addicted to alcohol, this is a challenging issue that is hard to negate.

A few minutes later the bell rang, signaling the end of class. Based on the enthusiasm exhibited by the students when they were leaving the room, Miss Benning knew that she had stimulated and motivated her students to stop and think about a vital health and social problem that exists in our society.