The Road to Health & Happiness

Miss Benning was a health instructor at the best known co-ed high school in the region. Although she had been teaching for only four years, she had already acquired a reputation as an educator with instructional methods that motivated and stimulated her students to learn and to think.

For example, one Tuesday morning she addressed the pupils in her class and stated the following: “For the next three or four days we are going to learn about some basic alcoholism facts from a more wide-ranging viewpoint and we are also going to learn about a number of the most common signs of alcoholism from a less general and more specific viewpoint.”

“Not all of these alcoholism signs will unquestionably establish that a drinker with a drinking problem is an individual who is addicted to alcohol, but the more signs that a drinker displays, the greater the possibility that he or she is an individual who is addicted to alcohol.”

Miss Benning then explained to the class that each pupil would be responsible for studying three alcohol addiction signs and then presenting his or her findings to the other class members via a five minute oral presentation.

The Students are Excited About Giving A Broad-Based Presentation to Their Fellow Pupils About The Signs of Alcoholism

After learning about the diverse alcohol addiction signs for a number of days, the time had come for the individual presentations. It was immediately clear to see that her students were energized about the topic because the information that they presented was extraordinary. To say that Miss Benning was pleasantly surprised with the enthusiasm displayed by the pupils in her classroom regarding this subject matter was an understatement.

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 presented and discussed in class and in the presentations. Miss Benning then asked her pupils to go over the list and rank the top five alcohol addiction signs that were most indicative of alcoholism. After around twenty minutes, Miss Benning collected the pieces of paper and told her students that after she examines the results, she will discuss her findings the next school day.

There was some real anticipation by the students while they were walking out of Miss Benning’s class. 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 Students Compare Their Numbers With the Results From A Panel of Alcohol Dependency Professionals

When the next school day finally arrived, Miss Benning gave out a sheet of paper that listed the top three alcohol dependency signs according to the pupils’ rankings. To the right of these results, she added another column that was labeled “experts’ response.” She then informed the students in her class that the numbers in the extra column she added were the conclusions that were constructed by a group of alcoholism specialists.

Miss Benning told the pupils in her class to look over the data on the sheet of paper she passed out and then to raise their hand if they had any concerns, issues, or questions. Within 40 or 50 seconds, just about every pupil in the class raised his or her hand. It was evident that the students had some concerns, questions, or issues about their results versus the answers given by the experts. For instance, almost every pupil had an issue with the highest ranked answer given by the professionals, specifically, “Do you feel very nauseous when you stop drinking?”

The Main 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 the pupils in her class why this answer was the most accurate sign of alcohol dependency. She stressed the fact that the main difference between alcohol abuse and alcoholism is the physical addiction that is experienced with alcohol dependency and not with alcohol abuse.

In essence this means that when an alcohol addicted person abruptly quits drinking, he or she will experience alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

Miss Benning then told her students 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 differently, alcohol withdrawal symptoms are signals from the body and from the brain telling an alcohol dependent individual that something is terribly misaligned and needs to be rectified. These signals consist of several painful, uncomfortable, and dangerous withdrawal symptoms that can possibly result in an individual’s death if the proper treatment is not immediately received.

Miss Benning then discussed the many different alcohol withdrawal symptoms that can be gone through when a person who is alcohol dependent abruptly stops drinking.

The fact 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 articulate this as plainly as possible, Miss Benning underscored the point that alcohol abusers, unlike alcohol addicted individuals, are not alcohol dependent and as a consequence, when they stop drinking, they almost never experience alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

The Students Believe They Have Found A Dissimilarity With the Findings From The Group of Substance Abuse Specialists

The pupils also some difficulty with the second ranked answer given by the alcohol dependency specialists, that is, “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 pupils in her class that this sign does not automatically imply that the problem is alcoholism, but that it does highlight the need that people who are alcohol dependent have to drink in order to keep away from alcohol withdrawals.

After Miss Benning explained the importance of alcohol withdrawal symptoms in the life of the person who is alcohol dependent, the pupils started to appreciate the basic difference between alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency.

To add a sense of closure to the topic, Miss Benning asked her students to take out a piece of paper and answer the following question: “if every individual who is alcohol dependent knew about every one of the alcoholism signs and alcohol withdrawal symptoms we have studied, what percentage of them do you think would ask for alcohol rehabilitation?”

After approximately two or three minutes, Miss Benning asked for the pupils’ predictions. While many pupils thought that approximately 85 to 95 percent of alcohol dependent individuals would obtain alcohol dependency treatment if they knew about the facts related to alcohol withdrawal symptoms and alcohol dependency signs, most of the pupils believed that this number would not be less than 65 percent.

The Students Were Amazed to Find Out That Only 25% of Individuals Who are Alcohol Dependent in the U.S. Ask For Alcohol Rehab

To the shock of most of the pupils, Miss Benning declared that according to different scientific examinations, only 25% of the alcohol dependent individuals in the United States ask for alcohol dependency rehabilitation. This amazed most of the students because they reasoned that first hand experience of the appalling statistics and facts associated with alcohol addiction would motivate the majority of the alcohol addicted individuals to ask for alcohol addiction rehabilitation.

Miss Benning then stated that people who are alcohol dependent not only need alcohol on a daily basis in order to function but they also need alcohol on an everyday basis so they can avert possible alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Evidently, the alcohol addicted person’s need to drink on a daily basis is stronger than logic or facts. Without a doubt, due to the fact that the thirst for alcohol is “reality” to the alcohol addicted person, this is a demanding issue that is difficult to overcome.

The Incidence of Alcohol Addiction and Mental Health Difficulties Commonly Leads to Marital, Friendship, Divorce, and Relationship Problems

Finally, Miss Benning told the students in her class that it is relevant to realize that alcohol dependency and diverse mental health predicaments such as depression are highly related. Furthermore, the occurrence of alcohol dependency and mental health difficulties frequently result in friendship, relationship, divorce, and marital problems.

The Pupils are Excited to Learn About Alcohol Dependency Signs and Symptoms in Today’s Society

A few minutes later the bell rang, signifying the end of the class. Based on the buzz displayed by the students when they were leaving the classroom, Miss Benning knew that she had motivated and inspired her students to stop and think about a noteworthy health and social problem that exists in our society.

Tags: alcoholism, Men's Issues, relationships, self improvement