Jennifer is a thirty-three-year-old accounting clerk who has been consuming alcohol quite extensively since she and her boyfriend decided to discontinue their relationship. In point of fact, for the past ten months she has been drinking almost one-and-a-half bottles of wine every night, and on the weekends she also has been drinking several cans of beer during the day. In a word, Jennifer has been drinking so excessively and abusively that it’s a miracle that she hasn’t suffered from alcohol poisoning.

After feeling down in the dumps because she was beginning to disregard her health, Jennifer at last told herself that she’s had enough, that it’s time to quit the self pity routine, that it’s time to quit the hazardous drinking, and time to make a new start with her life. So the following Saturday morning at 10:00 AM, she determined that she would stop drinking cold turkey.

When She Stopped Drinking She Felt Ill, She Had Utterly No Appetite, She Was Extremely Restless and Moody, She Started to Perspire Profusely, She Vomited Numerous Times, and Her Head Was Pounding

When Jennifer stopped drinking, she assumed that she would quite possibly be tempted to take a couple of drinks, but she never thought that she would feel so horrific. More specifically, approximately four hours after she stopped drinking, she started to sweat extensively, her head was aching, she was extremely moody and tense, she had utterly no appetite, and she vomited a number of times.

When she called her best pal and told her that she had quit drinking and that after a couple of hours she without any warning began experiencing flu-like symptoms, Lorraine, her best buddy, told Jennifer to call her medical doctor and discuss what was transpiring.

She Admits to Her Doctor That She Has Been Drinking Excessively, That She Just Tried to Quit Drinking, and That She is Suffering Through Terrible Flu-Like Symptoms

So Jennifer called her medical practitioner, told him that she has been drinking in an irresponsible and hazardous manner for a number of months and that when she honestly tried to completely stop drinking earlier in the day, within a few hours she felt as if she had the most dreadful flu-like symptoms that she had ever experienced.

Her physician told her that she may be experiencing symptoms of alcohol withdrawal and that she should have a relative or friend drive her to the emergency room ASAP.

As soon as Jennifer got off the phone, she got a neighbor to drive her to the hospital. Interestingly, as sick as Jennifer was, all she could think about all the way to the hospital was whether or not she might be alcohol dependent.

Obviously her healthcare professional had called ahead and told the emergency room medical team to expect Jennifer because when she got to the hospital, she was met by a nurse and a paramedic who promptly asked her to lie down on the portable bed they had with them. After getting taken to the emergency room and undergoing a few important tests, it was substantiated that Jennifer was in actual fact going through alcohol withdrawal symptoms and was in need of alcohol detoxification.

A healthcare professional administered some medications to reduce the intensity of her flu-like symptoms and also administered some medications to help eliminate the alcohol that was still in her circulation system.

An Alcohol Addiction Healthcare Professional Discusses That She is Dependent on Alcohol and Then Clearly Explains What Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms and Alcohol Addiction Stages Are

After two or three hours, Jennifer was transferred from the ER and wheeled to the recovery room. After she was in recovery for about two hours, Doctor Bornhorst, a chemical dependency and substance abuse specialist, came to talk to her. He took his time and explained that Jennifer had suffered through alcohol withdrawal symptoms when she quit drinking because she had become addicted to alcohol.

He then elucidated the fact that with heavy drinking on a daily basis, the person’s brain over time gets acclimated to the alcohol in order to work in a “semi-normal” way. When the individual then all of a sudden stops ingesting alcohol, however, the brain responds by giving rise to alcohol withdrawal symptoms. In addition, her healthcare practitioner also clearly explained the various alcoholism stages that an alcohol addicted person regularly suffers through as the disease gradually gets worse.

It is Determined that Jennifer is in the Earliest Stage of Alcohol Dependency and She Receives a Good Projection For a Full Recovery if She Gets the Alcoholism Rehabilitation She Requires

Fortunately for Jennifer, it was confirmed that she was in the earliest stage of alcoholism and, consequently, she received a good forecast for a complete recovery if she receives the alcohol dependency therapy she needs.

Jennifer told the physician that she will do whatever it takes to get sober and to re-establish her life. She also stated that she has a very comprehensive hospitalization insurance policy that will almost certainly pay for most, if not all, of the costs needed for treatment. It was obvious that Jennifer was very grateful about her optimistic medical forecast and felt free from worry knowing that she will be able to get the alcoholism therapy she requires so that she can start on the path to recovery.

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 two or three years, she had already established a reputation as a teacher with educational approaches that motivated and inspired her pupils to learn and to think.

For example, one Friday morning she addressed the pupils in her class and announced the following: “For the next two weeks we are going to learn about some basic alcoholism facts from a more broad-based standpoint and we are also going to learn about a number of the most common signs of alcoholism from a more detailed viewpoint.”

“Not all of these alcoholism signs will categorically substantiate that someone with a drinking problem is an alcohol dependent person, but the more signs that an individual displays, the higher the probability that he or she is an individual who is alcohol dependent.”

Miss Benning then explained to the the students that each pupil would be responsible for investigating two alcoholism signs and then presenting his or her results to the other class members via a thirty minute oral presentation.

The Pupils are Wound Up About Giving A Broad-Based Presentation to Their Fellow Pupils About Alcoholism Signs

After learning about the different alcohol addiction signs for a number of days, the time had finally come for the student presentations. It was at once clear to see that the pupils were energized about the subject because the information that they presented was first-rate. To say that Miss Benning was pleasantly surprised with the passion displayed by the students in her classroom regarding 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 alcoholism signs that were discussed and presented in class and in the presentations. Miss Benning then asked the students in her classroom to go over the list and rank the top six alcohol dependency signs that were most indicative of alcoholism. After around fifteen minutes, Miss Benning collected the sheets of paper and informed her students that after she analyzes the numbers, she will reveal her findings the next school day.

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

The Students Compare Their Results With the Assessments From A Board of Substance Abuse Professionals

When the next school day arrived, Miss Benning handed out a piece of paper that listed the top four alcoholism signs as per the pupils’ rankings. To the left of these results, she included another column that was labeled “correct response.” She then explained to her students that the numbers in the additional column she added were the responses that were stated publicly by a board of drug and alcohol addiction specialists.

Miss Benning told the students in her classroom to go over the data on the sheet of paper she handed out and then to raise their hand if they had any issues, questions, or concerns. Within a minute or two, virtually every student in the class raised her or his hand. It was evident that the pupils had some concerns, issues, or questions about their results versus the answers given by the specialists. For example, virtually every individual in the class disagreed with the highest ranked answer given by the authorities, that is, “Do you feel exceptionally nauseous when you abstain from drinking?”

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

Miss Benning then told her pupils why this answer was the most accurate sign of alcoholism. She pointed out that the major difference between alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction is the physical addiction that is experienced with alcohol dependency and not with alcohol abuse.

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

Miss Benning then explained to her students that alcohol withdrawal symptoms are responses by the body and by the brain to the deficiency of alcohol to which they had become acclimated. Stated more precisely, alcohol withdrawal symptoms are signals from the brain and from the body telling a person who is alcohol dependent that something is very incorrect and needs to be rectified. These messages consist of several dangerous, painful, and uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms that can possibly lead to a fatality if the appropriate treatment is not immediately received.

Miss Benning then went over the many diverse alcohol withdrawal symptoms that can be experienced when a person who is alcohol dependent suddenly quits drinking.

The point that Miss Benning tried to underscore 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 symptom or sign that few, if any, individuals who engage in alcohol abuse ever experience is alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

To articulate this as exactly as possible, Miss Benning emphasized the point that alcohol abusers, unlike individuals who are addicted to alcohol, are not alcohol dependent and accordingly, when they stop drinking, they almost never suffer from alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

The Students Feel They Have Uncovered An Irregularity With the Findings From The Team of Drug and Alcohol Abuse Authorities

The students also had a problem with the second ranked answer given by the chemical dependency 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 students in her class that this sign does not automatically mean that the problem is alcoholism, but that it does underscore the need that alcohol addicted people have to drink in order to stay away from alcohol withdrawals.

After Miss Benning explained the significance of alcohol withdrawal symptoms in the life of the alcohol dependent individual, the students started to grasp the basic difference between alcohol abuse and alcoholism.

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

After approximately three or four minutes, Miss Benning asked for the students’ answers. While many students believed that approximately 75 to 85 percent of people who are alcohol dependent would obtain alcohol dependency 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 Students Were Amazed to Learn That Only 25% of People Who are Alcohol Dependent in the United States Seek Alcohol Rehab

To the shock of most of the pupils, Miss Benning declared that according to various scientific examinations, only 25% of the people who are alcohol dependent in the United States get alcoholism treatment. This astonished most of the pupils because they believed that exposure to the overwhelming facts and statistics associated with alcohol dependency would motivate most of the alcohol dependent people to ask for alcohol addiction treatment.

Miss Benning then explained that alcoholics not only need alcohol on a daily basis in order to function but they also need alcohol everyday so they can keep away from possible alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Obviously, the alcohol dependent person’s need to drink on a daily basis is stronger than facts or logic. Certainly, due to the fact that the craving for alcohol is “reality” to the alcohol dependent individual, this is hard to undo.

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

Miss Benning was a health instructor at the most popular co-ed high school in the county. Although she had been teaching for only three years, she had already secured a reputation as a person with educational techniques that stimulated and motivated the students in her class to learn and to think.

For instance, one Wednesday morning at 8:00 she addressed the pupils in her class and announced the following: “For the next week we are going to learn about some basic alcoholism facts from a general standpoint and we are also going to learn about several of the most familiar signs of alcoholism from a less general and more specific standpoint.”

“Not all of these alcoholism signs will positively prove that an individual with a drinking problem is an individual who is alcohol dependent, but the more signs that a drinker manifests, the stronger the probability that he or she is an alcohol dependent individual.”

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 findings to the other members in the class via a six minute oral presentation.

The Students are Enthused About Giving A Thorough Presentation to Their Fellow Students About The Signs of Alcohol Addiction

After learning about the diverse signs of alcohol dependency for several days, the time had finally arrived for the oral presentations. It was instantaneously apparent that the pupils in her class were keyed up about the subject matter because the material that they presented was outstanding. To say that Miss Benning was pleasantly surprised with the excitement exhibited by her pupils concerning this subject matter was an understatement.

The day after all of the students 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 students to go over the list and rank the top nine alcohol dependency signs that were most indicative of alcoholism. After roughly fifteen minutes, Miss Benning collected the pieces of paper and informed the students in her classroom that after she reviews the numbers, she will discuss her findings the next school day.

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

The Students Contrast Their Numbers With the Evaluations From A Board of Substance Abuse Specialists

When the next school day finally arrived, Miss Benning passed out a sheet of paper that listed the top five alcohol dependency signs as per the students’ rankings. To the right of these results, she added another column that was labeled “correct answer.” She then explained to the students in her class that the numbers in the extra column she added stood for the answers that were stated by a team of alcoholism authorities.

Miss Benning asked the students in her classroom to go over the information on the piece of paper she passed out and then to raise their hand if they had any questions, concerns, or issues. Within 40 or 50 seconds, just about everyone in the class raised her or his hand. It was noticeable that the students had some questions, issues, or concerns about their results versus the answers given by the experts. For example, almost every individual in the classroom had an issue with the highest ranked answer given by the specialists, that is to say, “Do you feel really sick when you abstain from drinking?”

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

Miss Benning then informed the students in her classroom why this answer was the most precise sign of alcohol dependency. She pointed out the fact that the major 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 a person who is alcohol dependent all of a sudden quits drinking, he or she will go through alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

Miss Benning then explained to the students in her class 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 explicitly, alcohol withdrawal symptoms are messages from the brain and from the body telling an alcohol dependent person that something is extremely wrong and needs to be fixed. These messages consist of a number of painful, uncomfortable, and dangerous withdrawal symptoms that can possibly lead to a person’s death if the proper therapy is not promptly received.

Miss Benning then listed the many different alcohol withdrawal symptoms that can be gone through when an individual who is addicted to alcohol suddenly quits drinking.

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

The Pupils Think They Have Uncovered An Inconsistency With the Findings From The Group of Drug and Alcohol Abuse Professionals

The students also some difficulty with the second ranked answer given by the drug and alcohol addiction professionals, specifically, “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 inevitably suggest that the problem is alcohol addiction, but that it does stress the need that alcohol addicted people have to drink in order to avoid alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

After Miss Benning explained the relevance of alcohol withdrawal symptoms in the life of the alcoholic, the students started to understand the fundamental 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 piece 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 rehab?”

After roughly one or two minutes, Miss Benning asked for the pupils’ predictions. While many students figured that around 85 to 95 percent of alcohol addicted people would seek alcohol treatment if they knew about the facts related to alcohol withdrawal symptoms and alcohol dependency signs, most of the students reasoned that this number would not be less than 65 percent.

The Pupils Were Surprised to Find Out That Only 25% of Alcohol Dependent People in the U.S. Get Alcohol Dependency Treatment

To the astonishment of most of the pupils, Miss Benning stated that according to various scientific examinations, only 25% of the alcohol dependent individuals in the U.S. get alcohol addiction treatment. This shocked most of the students because they believed that first-hand knowledge of the abysmal facts and statistics related to alcoholism would motivate the majority of the alcohol addicted people 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 everyday so they can steer clear of possible alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Evidently, the alcoholic’s need to drink on a daily basis is more powerful than logic or facts. In actual fact, due to the fact that the need for alcohol is “reality” to the alcohol addicted person, this is a thorny issue that is hard to undo.

A few minutes later the bell rang, indicating that the end of class had arrived. Based on the enthusiasm displayed by the pupils when they were leaving the room, Miss Benning recognized that she had encouraged and inspired her pupils to stop and think about an important health and social problem that exists in our society.

Augie and Merissa have been going out for five years. They met while taking the same criminology class at a small, country, private liberal arts college located in the Midwestern part of the U.S. While they were just good buddies at first, they finally started dating when they were in their first year of college.

Because both of them came from very strict backgrounds, neither one of them drank much beyond the experimental stage when they first started to date. As the time advanced, nevertheless, they began to go to more football bashes, keg parties, sorority and fraternity parties, and happy hours. As a consequence, they slowly but surely began to drink increasingly more the longer they dated.

Their Social Life Commonly Consisted of Going to Happy Hour With Their Friends, Going to Professional Sporting Events, Going to Parties With Their Friends, Going to Restaurants Three or Four Nights Per Week, and Going With Their Friends to the Local Cabaret on the Weekends

After they graduated from college, they both got jobs in a relatively small city that was located just about sixty miles from their undergraduate college. Then they finally made up their mind to move in with each other.

Because they were far removed from the college drinking scene, nonetheless, their social life frequently consisted of going to restaurants three or four nights per week, going to happy hour with their friends, going to professional sporting events, going to parties with their friends, and going to the local nightspot with their pals on the weekends. Stated more explicitly, Augie and Merissa began drinking in an excessive and irresponsible manner.

Now that they were living with each other and starting to get more resolute about their relationship, nonetheless, they began to think about getting married, becoming more responsible, buying a house, and having children.

With any momentous adjustment in a person’s life there is commonly something that activates the specific adjustment in question. For Merissa and Augie the notion of buying a new house and having children was this “vehicle for change.” Simply put, for the first time in their lives, Augie and Merissa started to reflect on their irresponsible and hazardous drinking and the long term alcohol effects on their lives.

How Would Their Abusive and Irresponsible Drinking Affect Their Relationship With One Another, Their Finances, Their Relationship With Their Parents, Their Mental Health, and Their Ability to Have Children?

Would their excessive and heavy drinking unfavorably affect their ability to have children? How would they be able to continue spending so much money on drinking if they were to begin saving for a new house? How responsible would they be if they had children and continued to drink in a hazardous and abusive manner? How would they be able to face their parents and tell them about their long term hopes, aspirations, and dreams while they still drank in a hazardous and irresponsible manner while having fun as they did when they were in college? What would their drinking behavior do to their relationship? How would their abusive and irresponsible drinking affect their mental health?

From a different viewpoint, although neither one of them ever suffered from alcohol poisoning, received a DUI, or experienced alcohol withdrawals, they realized that their irresponsible drinking was becoming a troublesome issue that they could not discount any longer.

After Giving Their Situation Considerable Thought, Merissa and Augie Finally Realized That Their Aspirations, Dreams, and Hopes Would not be Brought to Fruition if They Continued Their Heavy Drinking

All of these uncertainties undeniably indicated the same conclusion: Merissa and Augie needed to get a more complete picture of the fact that they couldn’t continue their hazardous and irresponsible drinking if their dreams, plans, and hopes were to be reached.

Once they came to this conclusion, they alerted their drinking friends about their goal of buying or building a new house, about their marital plans, and about their plans to start a family. They also told their drinking buddies that they still wanted to hang out with them but that they would be drinking responsibly from this time forward so that they could start realizing their future aspirations, hopes, and dreams.

Shockingly, all of their friends expressed relief because they too had been deliberating on their lives and concluded that their life-styles were totally focused on drinking. They also thought that they would have to change notably if they were to become more adult-like and display more care for their health, their goals, and for their careers in the next fifteen or twenty years.

After their frank discussion with their buddies about their dreams, goals, and aspirations, Merissa and Augie in effect started to have more meaningful relationships with all of their friends. The main reason for this was the fact that all of them had the same mindset regarding their irresponsible and excessive drinking and their relatively short and long-term plans, goals, and aspirations.

Jennifer is a twenty-seven-year-old quality improvement consultant who has been consuming alcohol quite abusively since her boyfriend and she broke off their relationship. In actual fact, for the past eleven months she has been drinking very nearly a bottle of wine every night, and on the weekends she also has been drinking more than a few shots all through the day. In short, Jennifer has been drinking so excessively and abusively that it’s a wonder that she hasn’t suffered from alcohol poisoning.

After feeling discouraged because she was starting to ignore her health, Jennifer at last told herself that enough is enough, that it’s time to stop the self pity routine, that it’s time to stop the hazardous drinking, and time to make a new start with her life. So the next Saturday morning at 8:30 AM, she decided to quit drinking suddenly and completely without planning or preparation.

When She Quit Drinking She Felt Dreadful, Her Head Was Throbbing, She Had Absolutely No Appetite, She Started to Sweat Profusely, She Was Extremely Nervous and Moody, and She Vomited a Number of Times

When Jennifer quit drinking, she thought that she would most likely be tempted to ”steal” a few drinks, but she never inferred that she would feel so sick. More to the point, around three hours after she quit drinking, she vomited several times, she was extremely nervous and moody, her head was throbbing, she had absolutely no appetite, and she started to perspire profusely.

When she called her best girlfriend and informed her that she had stopped drinking and that after a couple of hours she without any warning began having flu-like symptoms, Tina, her best friend, told Jennifer to call her medical doctor and discuss what was taking place.

She Admits to Her Medical Practitioner That She Has Been Drinking Heavily, That She Just Tried to Stop Drinking, and That She is Suffering Through Terribly Painful Flu-Like Symptoms

So Jennifer called her physician, told him that she has been drinking in an abusive and irresponsible manner for quite a few months and that when she tried to completely quit drinking earlier in the day, within a couple of hours she felt as if she had the most horrible flu-like symptoms that she had ever experienced.

Her healthcare professional informed her that she may be suffering from symptoms of alcohol withdrawal and that she should have a family member or friend take her to the emergency room as soon as humanly possible.

As soon as Jennifer got off the phone, she got a relative to take her to the emergency room. Interestingly, all the way to the hospital, as sick as Jennifer felt, the only thing she could think about was whether or not she might be addicted to alcohol.

It appears that her family doctor had called ahead and informed the emergency room medical team to expect Jennifer because when she got to the hospital, she was met by two nurses who promptly told her to get in the wheelchair they had with them. After getting transported to the emergency room and undergoing two or three essential tests, it was corroborated that Jennifer was in fact experiencing alcohol withdrawal symptoms and was in need of alcohol detoxification.

A doctor administered some drugs to reduce the discomfort of her flu-like symptoms and also administered some meds to help eliminate the alcohol that was still in her body.

An Alcohol Abuse and Substance Abuse Doctor Explains in a Clear Fashion That She is an Alcoholic and Then Clearly Explains What Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms and Alcohol Dependency Stages Are

After a couple of hours, Jennifer was removed from the ER and wheeled to the recovery room. After she was in recovery for just about three-and-a-half hours, Doctor

Glosik, an alcohol abuse and substance abuse specialist, came to visit her. He took plenty of time and explained in a clear fashion that Jennifer had gone through alcohol withdrawal symptoms when she stopped drinking due to the fact that she had become alcohol dependent.

He then elucidated the fact that with excessive drinking on an everyday basis, the individual’s brain steadily gets acclimated to the alcohol so that it can work in a “routine” manner. When the person then abruptly quits consuming alcohol, however, the brain takes action by generating alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Moreover, her healthcare professional also went over the different alcoholism stages that a person who is alcohol dependent typically experiences as the disease gets progressively worse as time goes by.

It is Determined that Jennifer is in the Earliest Stage of Alcohol Dependency and She Obtains a Good Diagnosis For a Total Recovery if She Gets the Alcohol Dependency Rehab She Requires

Fortunately for Jennifer, it was determined that she was in the first stage of alcohol addiction and, as a result, she received a favorable forecast for a complete recovery if she gets the alcohol therapy she requires.

Jennifer told the healthcare practitioner that she will do whatever it takes to get sober and to re-establish her health. She also articulated that she has an exceptional hospitalization policy that will probably pay for most of the treatment costs that will be incurred. It was obvious that Jennifer was quite grateful about her encouraging medical forecast and felt reassured knowing that she will be able to get the alcoholism rehab she requires so that she can begin the path to recovery.

Miss Benning was a health instructor at the best known parochial high school in the county. Even though she had been teaching for only one year, she had already secured a reputation as an instructor with instructional methods that inspired and stimulated the students in her class to think and to learn.

For example, one Thursday morning at 9:00 she addressed her pupils and stated 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 common signs of alcoholism from a more specific point of view.”

“Not all of these alcoholism signs will beyond doubt confirm that someone with a drinking problem is an alcoholic, but the more signs that an individual manifests, the greater the likelihood that he or she is an individual who is alcohol dependent.”

Miss Benning then explained to the members in the class that each pupil would be accountable for researching four alcohol dependence signs and then presenting his or her findings to the class via a fifteen minute oral presentation.

The Students are Keyed Up About Giving An Extensive Presentation to Their Fellow Classmates About Alcoholism Signs

After learning about the diverse signs of alcohol dependency for a number of days, the time had finally arrived for the student presentations. It was immediately evident that the pupils in her class were wound up about the topic because the information that they presented was superb. To say that Miss Benning was pleasantly surprised with the interest displayed by the pupils in her class regarding this subject 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 presented and discussed in class and in the presentations. Miss Benning then asked the pupils in her class to study the list and rank the top five alcoholism signs that were most indicative of alcoholism. After about ten minutes, Miss Benning collected the sheets of paper and told the pupils in her class that after she studies the results, she will discuss her findings the next school day.

There was some real excitement by the students 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 outcome of their in-class research.

The Students Compare Their Answers With the Results From A Council of Chemical Dependency Specialists

When the next school day finally came, Miss Benning handed out a sheet of paper that listed the top five alcoholism signs according to the pupils’ rankings. To the right of these results, she included another column that was labeled “experts’ response.” She then told the pupils in her class that the numbers in the second column she added stood for the answers that were generated by a council of alcohol addiction specialists.

Miss Benning told the students in her class to go over the information on the piece of paper she passed out and then to raise their hand if they had any questions, issues, or concerns. Within a minute or two, virtually every student in the classroom raised her or his hand. It was obvious that the pupils had some concerns, questions, or issues about their results versus the answers given by the professionals. For instance, just about every student had an issue with the highest ranked answer given by the experts, that is to say, “Do you feel really nauseous when you refrain from drinking?”

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

Miss Benning then explained to the pupils in her class why this answer was the most precise indicator of alcohol dependency. She stressed the fact that the principal difference between alcohol addiction and alcohol abuse is the physical dependency that is experienced with alcohol addiction and not with alcohol abuse.

In essence this means that when an alcohol dependent individual abruptly stops drinking, he or she will go through alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

Miss Benning then informed the pupils in her class that alcohol withdrawal symptoms are responses by the body and by the brain to the deficiency of alcohol to which they had become acclimated. Stated more explicitly, alcohol withdrawal symptoms are signals from the body and from the brain telling an alcoholic that something is extremely misaligned and needs to be rectified. These signals consist of several dangerous, uncomfortable, and painful withdrawal symptoms that can possibly lead to an individual’s death if the proper therapy is not promptly obtained.

Miss Benning then went over the many diverse alcohol withdrawal symptoms that can be gone through when an alcohol dependent person abruptly stops drinking.

The fact that Miss Benning tried to emphasize was this: a person 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 plainly as possible, Miss Benning emphasized the point that alcohol abusers, unlike alcoholics, are not alcohol dependent and as a consequence, when they stop drinking, they almost never suffer from alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

The Pupils Believe They Have Found An Incongruity With the Findings From The Council of Alcohol Dependency Experts

The students also disagreed with the second ranked answer given by the substance abuse experts, namely, “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 informed the pupils in her classroom that this sign does not automatically imply that the problem is alcoholism, but that it does stress the need that individuals 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 addicted to alcohol, the pupils started to appreciate the primary difference between alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency.

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

After roughly three or four minutes, Miss Benning asked for the students’ predictions. While many students reasoned that roughly 70 to 80 percent of people who are addicted to alcohol would get alcoholism treatment if they knew about the facts related to alcohol withdrawal symptoms and alcohol dependency signs, most of the students believed that this number would not be less than 55 percent.

The Students Were Shocked to Discover That Only 25% of Alcohol Dependent Individuals in the U.S. Obtain Alcohol Addiction Rehabilitation

To the surprise of most of the pupils, Miss Benning mentioned that according to different scientific examinations, only 25% of the alcohol dependent people in the United States ask for alcohol addiction rehab. This shocked most of the pupils because they thought that exposure to the shocking facts and statistics correlated with alcohol dependency would motivate most of the individuals who are addicted to alcohol to get alcohol treatment.

Miss Benning then explained that individuals who are addicted to alcohol not only need alcohol everyday in order to function but they also require alcohol everyday so they can avoid possible alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Clearly, the alcohol addicted person’s need to drink on a daily basis is more powerful than facts or logic. Undeniably, due to the fact that the craving for alcohol is “reality” to the person who is addicted to alcohol, this is a challenging issue that is hard to change.

A few minutes later the bell rang, indicating that the end of class had arrived. Based on the excitement manifested by the pupils when they were leaving the room, Miss Benning realized that she had stimulated and inspired the students in her classroom to stop and think about a vital health and social problem that exists in our country.

Jennifer is a thirty-eight-year-old court reporter who has been drinking in an irresponsible and hazardous manner since she and her boyfriend severed their relationship. In actual fact, for the past seven months she has been drinking very nearly one-and-a-half bottles of wine every night, and on the weekends she also has been drinking more than a few mixed drinks throughout the day. In short, Jennifer has been drinking so hazardously and excessively that it’s amazing that she hasn’t suffered from alcohol poisoning.

After feeling dispirited because she was starting to neglect her health, Jennifer finally told herself that she’s had enough, that it’s time to stop the self pity routine, that it’s time to quit the hazardous and irresponsible drinking, and time to get going with her life. So the next Saturday morning at 10:00 AM, she made up her mind to stop drinking completely and suddenly without preparation or planning.

When She Attempted to Stop Drinking She Felt Ill, Her Head Was Throbbing, She Vomited Several Times, She Started to Sweat Profusely, She Was Extremely Anxious and Moody, and She Had Absolutely No Appetite

When Jennifer stopped drinking, she figured that she would more likely than not be tempted to take a couple of drinks, but she never thought that she would feel so awful. More correctly, around three hours after she quit drinking, she started to sweat extensively, her head was pounding, she vomited a number of times, she was extremely moody and anxious, and she had utterly no appetite.

When she called her best buddy and told her that she had stopped drinking and that after a few hours she without any warning began experiencing flu-like symptoms, Amanda, her best pal, told Jennifer to call her physician and explain in a clear manner what was going on.

She Admits to Her Healthcare Practitioner That She Has Been Drinking Abusively, That She Just Tried to Stop Drinking, and That She is Experiencing Horrible Flu-Like Symptoms

So Jennifer called her family doctor, told him that she has been drinking in a hazardous and excessive manner for several months and that when she attempted to abruptly stop drinking earlier in the day, within a couple of hours she felt as if she had the most dreadful flu-like symptoms that she had ever gone through.

Her healthcare practitioner told her that she may be going through symptoms of alcohol withdrawal and that she should have a relative or neighbor drive her to the emergency room as soon as humanly possible.

As soon as Jennifer got off the phone, she got a friend to drive her to the emergency room. Interestingly, as sick as Jennifer was, all she could think about all the way to the hospital was whether or not she might be an alcoholic.

It seems that her family doctor had called ahead and informed the emergency room personnel to expect Jennifer because when she got to the hospital, she was met by two ER workers who promptly asked her to get in the wheelchair they had with them. After getting taken to the emergency room and undergoing a few necessary tests, it was verified that Jennifer was in actual fact experiencing alcohol withdrawal symptoms and was in need of alcohol detoxification.

A physician gave her some meds to address her flu-like symptoms and also gave her some meds to help eliminate the alcohol that was still in her circulatory system.

An Alcohol Abuse and Substance Abuse Doctor Clearly Explains That She is Addicted to Alcohol and Then Clearly Explains What Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms and Alcohol Addiction Stages Are

After an hour or two, Jennifer was taken from the ER and wheeled to the recovery room. After she was in recovery for about an hour, Doctor Bekeny, an alcohol addiction specialist, came to see her. He took plenty of time and explained in laymen’s language that Jennifer had gone through alcohol withdrawal symptoms when she stopped drinking because she had become alcohol dependent.

He then mentioned the fact that with excessive drinking on an everyday basis, the individual’s brain little by little gets acclimated to the alcohol so that it can perform in a “normal” way. When the person then all at once stops ingesting alcohol, however, the brain takes action by creating alcohol withdrawal symptoms. What is more, her medical practitioner also explained in a clear fashion the various alcoholism stages that a person who is alcohol dependent regularly experiences as the disease gradually gets worse.

It is Determined that Jennifer is in the First Stage of Alcoholism and She Gets a Favorable Diagnosis For a Total Recovery if She Gets the Alcohol Rehabilitation She Needs

Fortunately for Jennifer, it was established that she was in the earliest stage of alcoholism and, consequently, she got a good projection for a complete recovery if she receives the alcohol dependency therapy she requires.

Jennifer told the physician that she will do whatever it takes to get sober and to re-establish her health and her life. She also mentioned that she has an outstanding hospitalization policy that will more likely than not pay for most of the treatment costs. It was clear to see that Jennifer was quite thankful about her optimistic medical prognosis and felt at peace knowing that she will be able to get the alcohol addiction rehab she requires so that she can begin the path to recovery.

When I was in the tenth grade in high school, I registered for a substance abuse class. At that time period, I did not comprehend that alcohol abuse actually was a sub classification of drug abuse. While taking this class and learning more about drug and alcohol abuse, I read a lot about Alcoholic Anonymous, their meetings, how their programs have twelve steps, and how successful the Alcoholics Anonymous recovery program has been for people all through the world. I also learned a lot about alcohol treatment and the different alcohol rehab facilities that are often available to individuals who engage in abusive drinking.

Some of the harmful results linked to alcoholism and alcohol abuse that I learned about in this class unquestionably frightened me. The ruined lives and many difficulties experienced by most alcoholics made me feel like I never wanted to drink alcohol when I became old enough. In short, I did not want to face the wreckage and devastation that alcohol addicted people almost always encounter.

Ponder upon this for a moment. What fifteen-year-old teenager wants to face premature death due to his or her drinking behavior? What teenager wants to become so out-of-control regarding his or her drinking that drinking alcohol becomes the object of one’s life? What teenager wants to go to one of the local alcoholic rehabilitation centers to deal with alcohol-related difficulties before he or she becomes twenty-one?

What young person wants to experience alcohol withdrawals when he or she tries to stop drinking? Why would an individual engage in drinking to such an extent that it would cause difficulties in every area of his or her life? Drinking later in life after a person has a career, a family, and develops personal responsibilities makes sense. But why would an adolescent want to sacrifice his or her education, employment, finances, and relationships for a life that revolves around irresponsible drinking?

These issues were so noteworthy that I talked about some of them in class throughout the school year. What was totally astounding to me was the number of students who basically didn’t care about the negative effects of hazardous drinking that I talked about. It was almost as if they couldn’t be troubled with the truth and how these consequences can demolish their lives. For the first time in my life I started to grasp a saying that my grandfather used to tell me all through my adolesence: you can lead a horse to water but you can’t force it to drink.

When I was in the tenth grade in high school, I enrolled into a drug abuse class. At that time period, I did not grasp the fact that alcohol abuse in truth was a sub classification of drug abuse. While taking this class and learning more about drug and alcohol abuse, I read a lot about Alcoholic Anonymous, their meetings, how their programs have twelve steps, and how successful the Alcoholics Anonymous recovery program has been for people throughout the world. I also learned a lot about alcohol rehabilitation and the diverse alcohol rehab clinics that are often available to people who engage in excessive drinking.

Some of the dangerous results linked to alcoholism and alcohol abuse that I learned about in this class undeniably worried me. The ruined lives and many difficulties experienced by most alcohol dependent individuals made me feel like I never wanted to drink alcohol when I became old enough. More to the point, I did not want to face the wreckage and devastation that alcohol addicted people almost always experience.

Ponder upon this for a moment. What fifteen-year-old individual wants to face premature death due to his or her drinking behavior? What young person wants to become so out-of-control regarding his or her drinking that drinking alcohol becomes the object of one’s life? What teen wants to go to one of the local alcoholic rehabilitation centers to deal with alcohol-related issues before he or she becomes an adult?

What young person wants to go through alcohol withdrawals when he or she tries to quit drinking? Why would a person engage in drinking to such an extent that it would cause serious issues in every area of his or her life? Drinking later in life after a person has a career, a family, and develops personal responsibilities makes sense. But why would an adolescent want to sacrifice his or her education, employment, finances, and relationships for a life that centers on irresponsible drinking?

These issues were so meaningful that I talked about some of them in class during the school year. What was utterly amazing to me was the number of students who essentially didn’t care about the dangerous consequences of hazardous drinking that I talked about. It was almost as if they couldn’t be troubled with reality and how these consequences can shatter their lives. For the first time in my life I started to appreciate something that my grandfather used to say to me throughout my youth: you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.