Miss Benning was a health teacher at the most financially challenged parochial high school in the region. Although she had been teaching for only three of four years, she had already gained a reputation as an educator with teaching methods that encouraged and motivated pupils to think and to learn.

As an illustration, one Tuesday morning at 9:30 she addressed her students and stated the following: “For the next two or three days we are going to learn about some basic alcoholism facts from a more broad-based viewpoint and we are also going to learn about some of the most highly researched signs of alcoholism from a more detailed viewpoint.”

“Not all of these alcoholism signs will unquestionably show that someone with a drinking problem is an alcoholic, but the more signs that an individual exhibits, the greater the probability that he or she is an individual who is addicted to alcohol.”

Miss Benning then told the students in the class that each pupil would be accountable for investigating three alcohol dependence signs and then presenting his or her findings to the other members in the class via a twenty minute oral presentation.

The Students are Keyed Up About Giving A Detailed Presentation to Their Fellow Students About Alcohol Addiction Signs

After learning about the diverse alcohol dependency signs for quite a few days, the time had arrived for the oral presentations. It was at once apparent that the pupils were enthused about the subject matter because the material that they presented was first-rate. To say that Miss Benning was pleasantly surprised with the passion exhibited by the students in her class concerning this subject matter was an understatement.

The day after all of the students completed their presentations, Miss Benning passed out a piece of paper with a list of all the alcohol dependency 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 seven alcoholism signs that were most indicative of alcoholism. After around ten minutes, Miss Benning collected the sheets of paper and explained to her pupils that after she assesses the results, she will discuss her findings the next school day.

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

The Students Match Their Answers Against the Results From A Team of Drug and Alcohol Abuse Authorities

When the next school day arrived, Miss Benning passed out a piece of paper that listed the top three alcohol dependency signs according to the pupils’ rankings. To the right of these results, she included another column that was labeled “experts’ response.” She then explained to the pupils in her classroom that the numbers in the extra column she added stood for the conclusions that were given by a board of drug and alcohol addiction professionals.

Miss Benning asked her students to go over the data on the piece of paper she passed out and then to raise their hand if they had any issues, questions, or concerns. Within 40 or 50 seconds, almost every student in the class raised his or her hand. It was clear to see that the students had some issues, concerns, or questions about their results versus the answers given by the experts. For example, almost every person in the classroom disagreed with the highest ranked answer given by the authorities, to be exact, “Do you feel really nauseous when you abstain from drinking?”

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

Miss Benning then told the students in her class why this answer was the most unambiguous sign of alcohol dependency. She underscored the fact that the chief difference between alcohol abuse and alcoholism is the physical addiction that is experienced with alcoholism and not with alcohol abuse.

In essence this means that when an alcohol dependent 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 brain and by the body to the deficiency of alcohol to which they had become acclimated. Stated more forcefully, alcohol withdrawal symptoms are messages from the body and from the brain telling an individual who is alcohol dependent that something is terribly incorrect and needs to be fixed. These signals consist of a number of painful, uncomfortable, and dangerous withdrawal symptoms that can potentially lead to someone’s death if the appropriate therapy is not promptly undertaken.

Miss Benning then went over the host of alcohol withdrawal symptoms that can be gone through when an alcoholic suddenly stops drinking.

The fact that Miss Benning tried to underline was this: an individual who engages in alcohol abuse can experience almost any and every one of the alcohol addiction 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 state this as exactly as possible, Miss Benning underscored the fact that alcohol abusers, unlike alcohol addicted people, are not alcohol dependent and consequently, when they quit drinking, they almost never experience alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

The Students Think They Have Found An Abnormality With the Findings From The Panel of Substance Abuse Professionals

The pupils also had an issue with the second ranked answer given by the alcohol addiction authorities, namely, “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 informed the pupils in her classroom that this sign does not automatically indicate that the problem is alcohol addiction, but that it does stress the need that people who are addicted to alcohol have to drink in order to steer clear of alcohol withdrawals.

After Miss Benning explained the importance of alcohol withdrawal symptoms in the life of the alcoholic, the students started to grasp the major difference between alcohol abuse and alcoholism.

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

After approximately two or three minutes, Miss Benning asked for the pupils’ predictions. While many pupils reasoned that around 80 to 90 percent of alcohol addicted people would get alcohol addiction rehabilitation if they knew about the facts related to alcohol withdrawal symptoms and alcohol addiction signs, most of the students reasoned that this number would not be less than 50 percent.

The Pupils Were Shocked to Find Out That Only 25% of Individuals Who are Alcohol Dependent in the United States Seek Alcohol Addiction Rehab

To the shock of most of the pupils, Miss Benning proclaimed that according to various scientific examinations, only 25% of the alcoholics in the U.S. seek alcohol addiction treatment. This shocked most of the pupils because they believed that exposure to the shocking facts and statistics associated with alcohol dependency would motivate the majority of the individuals who are addicted to alcohol to obtain alcoholism rehabilitation.

Miss Benning then stated that individuals who are alcohol dependent not only need alcohol everyday in order to function but they also require alcohol on an everyday basis so they can steer clear of possible alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Apparently, the alcoholic’s need to drink on a daily basis is stronger than facts or logic. As a matter of fact, because the need for alcohol is “reality” to the alcohol dependent person, this is difficult to undo.

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 classroom, Miss Benning recognized that she had stimulated and encouraged her pupils to stop and think about an important health and social problem that exists in our culture.