One in eight American adults is an alcoholic, according to the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Do you think you might be one of them?
If you are considering whether you might have a drinking problem, take this self-assessment quiz. Developed by recovered alcoholics in the treatment field, it can help you determine if you need to seek help.
12 Questions to Help You Determine if You’re an Alcoholic
- Have you ever thought that drinking might be a problem?
- Have you ever made a promise to stop drinking for a certain period of time, but found you couldn’t last that long?
- Do you ever plan on stopping at a certain point — say, after the third or fourth drink — but drank past that point?
- Is drinking causing problems at home or work?
- Have you ever had to take a drink in the morning to “even out” or get moving?
- Do you get drunk when you don’t mean to?
- Do you ever miss important appointments due to drinking?
- Do you wish people would leave you alone about your drinking?
- Do you wish you could cut back on your drinking?
- Is drinking causing health problems?
- Have you or anyone else been hurt as a result of your drinking?
- Do you have blackouts?
If you answered “yes” to three or more questions, you are probably an alcoholic.
How do we know this? Because we are alcoholics. We have spent years trying to control our drinking, only to find that drinking controlled us. We swore off for a week or a month — not because we had a problem, mind you, just to get some rest and prove we could do it. But we couldn’t.
We told ourselves we were just going to get a little buzzed, and then we closed the bar down. Damnit, overshot the mark again. And again. And again.
We called in sick to nurse a hangover. Our health suffered. We lost jobs and relationships. We had blackouts. We got DUIs. We went to jail.
Finally, we faced the fact that we were alcoholics. We could not control our drinking. This admission of defeat turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to us, for we could now accept the help we so desperately needed to rebuild our lives.
If you are one of us, please know that you will likely need help to recover.
Get Help for Alcoholism
Alcoholism is too tough to beat without help. The following resources can offer life-saving assistance on your path to recovery:
- Alcoholic Anonymous
- The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
Consider getting treatment. Cornerstone Healing Center is an evidence-based, long-term treatment facility in Scottsdale, Arizona. A recovered alcoholic founded us, and people in recovery almost exclusively staff us. Our completion rates are five times higher than the national average, and we have programs to fit every schedule, including partial hospitalization (PHP), intensive outpatient (IOP), and standard outpatient.
We’ve built new, sober lives for ourselves, and we can also show you how to do so. Reach out to Cornerstone today.
