The Relevance Of Alcohol Rehab And How Mental Health Difficulties And Alcohol Dependency Commonly Result In Relationship, Friendship, Marital, And Divorce Problems

Miss Benning was a health instructor at the most underfinanced co-educational high school in the state. Although she had been teaching for only five years, she had already gained a reputation as an instructor with teaching methods that encouraged and stimulated her pupils to think and to learn.

For instance, one Wednesday morning at 11:00 she addressed her pupils and said the following: “For the next four or five days we are going to learn about some basic alcoholism facts from a general perspective 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 a drinker with a drinking problem is an alcoholic, but the more signs that a person manifests, the more likely it is that he or she is an alcohol dependent person.”

Miss Benning then informed the members in the class that each individual would be held responsible for studying four alcoholism signs and then presenting his or her conclusions to the other members in the class via a six minute oral presentation.

The Pupils are Enthused About Giving A Detailed Presentation to Their Fellow Classmates About The Signs of Alcoholism

After learning about the diverse signs of alcohol addiction for several days, the time had arrived for the oral presentations. It was immediately apparent that her pupils 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 fervor manifested by her students regarding this topic 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 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 ten alcohol dependency signs that were most indicative of alcohol dependency. After about ten minutes, Miss Benning collected the pieces of paper and told the students in her classroom that after she examines the numbers, she will present 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 students couldn’t wait for the next day to come so that they could learn about the outcome of their in-class research.

The Pupils Compare Their Answers With the Appraisals From A Team of Alcohol Dependency Professionals

When the next school day finally arrived, Miss Benning handed out a sheet of paper that listed the top four alcohol dependency signs as per the pupils’ rankings. Next to these results, she included another column that was labeled “correct response.” She then informed her students that the numbers in the additional column she added represented the conclusions that were generated by a council of drug and alcohol addiction specialists.

Miss Benning told the students in her classroom to look over the data on the sheet of paper she passed out and then to raise their hand if they had any concerns, questions, or issues. Within 30 or 40 seconds, just about every student in the classroom raised his or her hand. It was evident that the pupils had some concerns, issues, or questions about their results versus the answers given by the professionals. For example, just about every student had an issue with the highest ranked answer given by the authorities, that is, “Do you feel exceptionally nauseous when you abstain from drinking?”

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

Miss Benning then informed her pupils why this answer was the most unambiguous sign of alcoholism. She underlined the fact that the chief difference between alcohol addiction and alcohol abuse is the physical addiction that is experienced with alcohol addiction and not with alcohol abuse.

Fundamentally this means that when an alcohol addicted individual all of a sudden stops drinking, he or she will go through alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

Miss Benning then explained to the pupils in her classroom that alcohol withdrawal symptoms are responses by the brain and by the body to the deficiency of alcohol to which they had become accustomed. Stated more forcefully, alcohol withdrawal symptoms are signals from the brain and from the body telling an alcohol dependent person that something is exceedingly wrong and needs to be fixed. These signals consist of a number of painful, dangerous, and uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms that can possibly lead to a fatality if the appropriate therapy is not immediately received.

Miss Benning then discussed the multitude of alcohol withdrawal symptoms that can be gone through when an alcohol dependent individual suddenly quits drinking.

The fact that Miss Benning tried to underline 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 symptom or sign that few, if any, alcohol abusers ever experience is alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

To state this as precisely as possible, Miss Benning underscored the fact that alcohol abusers, unlike alcoholics, are not alcohol dependent and consequently, when they stop drinking, they almost never go through alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

The Pupils Feel They Have Discovered An Inconsistency With the Findings From The Team of Alcohol Dependency Experts

The students also some difficulty with the second ranked answer given by the substance abuse authorities, to be precise, “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 her pupils that this sign does not inevitably signify that the problem is alcoholism, but that it does point to the need that people who are addicted to alcohol have to drink in order to prevent alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

After Miss Benning explained the significance of alcohol withdrawal symptoms in the life of the alcohol addicted individual, the pupils started to appreciate the main difference between alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency.

To add a sense of closure to the topic, Miss Benning asked her pupils 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 addiction signs and alcohol withdrawal symptoms we have studied, what percentage of them do you think would get alcohol addiction rehabilitation?”

After approximately five or six minutes, Miss Benning asked for the students’ answers. While many pupils thought that around 80 to 90 percent of individuals who are alcohol dependent would obtain alcoholism rehab if they knew about the facts related to alcoholism signs and alcohol withdrawal symptoms, most of the pupils thought that this number would not be less than 70 percent.

The Students Were Shocked to Find Out That Only 25% of Alcohol Dependent Individuals in the U.S. Ask For Alcohol Treatment

To the amazement of most of the students, Miss Benning acknowledged that according to various scientific investigations, only 25% of the alcoholics in the United States ask for alcohol dependency rehabilitation. This surprised most of the pupils because they reasoned that exposure to the shocking facts and statistics correlated with alcoholism would motivate most of the alcohol dependent people to ask for alcoholism rehabilitation.

Miss Benning then stated that people 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 keep away from possible alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Evidently, the alcohol dependent person’s need to drink on a daily basis is more powerful than logic or facts. In actual fact, because the craving for alcohol is “reality” to the individual who is alcohol dependent, this is very hard to undo.

The Incidence of Alcohol Dependency and Mental Health Problems Commonly Results in Friendship, Divorce, Relationship, and Marital Problems

Finally, Miss Benning explained to pupils that it is relevant to understand that alcoholism and different mental health issues like depression are highly interlinked. Additionally, the occurrence of alcoholism and mental health problems often result in marital, friendship, relationship, and divorce problems.

The Pupils are Encouraged to Learn About Alcohol Addiction 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 encouraged and stimulated her students to stop and think about an important health and social problem that exists in our culture.