The Relevance Of Alcohol Treatment And How Alcohol Addiction And Mental Health Difficulties Frequently Result In Relationship, Divorce, Friendship, And Marital Problems

Miss Benning was a health instructor at the most underfinanced co-ed high school in the state. Even though she had been teaching for only four years, she had already gained a reputation as a teacher with a teaching methodology that encouraged and stimulated the pupils in her class to learn and to think.

For example, one Friday morning at 8:00 she addressed the pupils in her class and articulated the following: “For the next week we are going to learn about some basic alcoholism facts from a general viewpoint and we are also going to learn about a number of the most typical signs of alcoholism from a less general and more specific standpoint.”

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

Miss Benning then informed the the students that each person would be accountable for researching three alcohol addiction signs and then presenting his or her findings to the other members in the class via a six minute oral presentation.

The Students are Enthused About Giving A Comprehensive Presentation to Their Fellow Students About Alcoholism Signs

After learning about the different signs of alcohol dependency for quite a few days, the time had come for the individual presentations. It was at once obvious that the pupils in her class were enthused about the subject because the material that they presented was excellent. To say that Miss Benning was pleasantly surprised with the interest exhibited by the pupils in her class concerning this subject 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 dependency signs that were presented and discussed in class and in the presentations. Miss Benning then asked the pupils in her class to go over the list and rank the top nine alcoholism signs that were most indicative of alcohol addiction. After approximately fifteen minutes, Miss Benning collected the pieces of paper and told the students in her class that after she assesses the numbers, she will present her findings the next school day.

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

The Pupils Contrast Their Results With the Results From A Board of Drug and Alcohol Abuse Experts

When the next school day finally arrived, Miss Benning gave out a sheet of paper that listed the top five alcohol addiction signs as per the students’ 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 represented the conclusions that were given by a group of chemical dependency specialists.

Miss Benning asked her pupils to look over the information on the piece of paper she passed out and then to raise their hand if they had any concerns, issues, or questions. Within a minute or two, just about every student in the class raised his or her hand. It was obvious that the students had some concerns, issues, or questions about their results versus the answers given by the authorities. As an illustration, almost every pupil disagreed with the highest ranked answer given by the authorities, namely, “Do you feel extremely sick when you refrain from drinking?”

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

Miss Benning then explained to the students in her classroom why this answer was the most correct sign of alcohol addiction. She underlined the fact that the chief difference between alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction is the physical dependency that is experienced with alcohol addiction and not with alcohol abuse.

Basically this means that when an alcohol dependent person abruptly quits drinking, he or she will experience alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

Miss Benning then explained to the pupils in her class that alcohol withdrawal symptoms are responses by the body and by the brain to the deprivation of alcohol to which they had become accustomed. Stated more forcefully, alcohol withdrawal symptoms are messages from the brain and from the body telling a person who is addicted to alcohol that something is very misaligned and needs to be fixed. These signals consist of a number of dangerous, painful, and uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms that can potentially result in a person’s death if the proper treatment is not promptly obtained.

Miss Benning then went over the host of alcohol withdrawal symptoms that can be experienced when an individual who is addicted to alcohol abruptly stops 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, individuals who engage in alcohol abuse ever experience is alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

To explain this as precisely as possible, Miss Benning underscored the point that alcohol abusers, unlike people who are alcohol dependent, are not alcohol dependent and accordingly, when they quit drinking, they almost never go through alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

The Students Think They Have Discovered A Variance With the Findings From The Council of Drug and Alcohol Addiction Professionals

The students also some difficulty with the second ranked answer given by the alcohol dependency professionals, that is, “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 pupils in her classroom that this sign does not automatically denote that the problem is alcoholism, but that it does underline the need that alcohol dependent individuals have to drink in order to steer clear of alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

After Miss Benning explained the relevance of alcohol withdrawal symptoms in the life of the individual who is alcohol dependent, the pupils started to comprehend the basic difference between alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction.

To add a sense of closure to the subject, 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 alcohol dependent knew about every one of the alcohol withdrawal symptoms and alcoholism signs we have studied, what percentage of them do you think would obtain alcohol addiction rehab?”

After about one or two minutes, Miss Benning asked for the pupils’ answers. While many students figured that around 85 to 95 percent of individuals who are alcohol dependent would get alcoholism treatment if they knew about the facts related to alcohol withdrawal symptoms and alcohol addiction signs, most of the students believed that this number would not be less than 55 percent.

The Pupils Were Astonished to Discover That Only 25% of Alcoholics in the U.S. Ask For Alcohol Dependency Rehab

To the surprise of most of the students, Miss Benning acknowledged that according to various scientific investigations, only 25% of the alcoholics in the U.S. get alcohol dependency treatment. This shocked most of the students because they figured that first-hand knowledge of the disgusting statistics and facts correlated with alcohol addiction would motivate the majority of the alcohol addicted people to get alcohol dependency treatment.

Miss Benning then stated that alcohol addicted individuals not only need alcohol on an everyday basis in order to function but they also require alcohol on an everyday basis so they can steer clear of possible alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Evidently, the alcohol dependent individual’s need to drink on a daily basis is stronger than logic or facts. Undeniably, since the desire for alcohol is “reality” to the person who is alcohol dependent, this is a demanding issue that is hard to counteract.

The Combination of Mental Health Issues and Alcohol Dependency Commonly Leads to Friendship, Relationship, Divorce, and Marital Problems

Finally, Miss Benning told students that it is important to conceptualize that alcohol dependency and different mental health issues like depression are highly related. Not only this but the combination of alcohol dependency and mental health difficulties regularly result in friendship, divorce, relationship, and marital problems.

The Students are Encouraged to Learn About Alcoholism Symptoms and Signs in Today’s Society

A few minutes later the bell rang, signaling the end of class. Based on the enthusiasm manifested by the students when they were leaving the classroom, Miss Benning realized that she had encouraged and motivated the pupils in her class to stop and think about a critical health and social problem that exists in our society.