| Am I an Alchol Dependent person? | | | | 8. Are you having trouble maintaining your physical |
| The terms 'alcoholism' refers to the ailment of chronic | | | | appearance? |
| addiction to alcoholic drinks. It is a sickness that, if left | | | | 9. Are you tempted to take a drink to the workplace |
| untreated, almost inevitably wrecks a person's life, both | | | | with you, or drink one while driving? |
| through the damage the alcoholic substances does to | | | | Of course there is really only one question that defines |
| the addicted person's health and due to the wider | | | | alcoholism: 'are you able to stop drinking?', but most |
| effects on the alcoholic person's job, family, social life, | | | | heavy drinkers who progress into an alcohol |
| etc. | | | | dependency do so while maintaining, "I can cease |
| For clear reasons, most individuals shy away from | | | | drinking any time I like!" For this rationale it is useful to |
| applying the label 'alcoholic' to themselves. Even | | | | have the nine questions. If they answer is 'of course' to |
| persons who often drink obsessively will say, "I know I | | | | most of them, that would suggeset that the person in |
| drink a great deal, but I'm not an alcoholic". For this | | | | question cannot stop drinking any time they want, |
| reason it is valuable to have a list of objective | | | | despite their protestations to the contrary! |
| indicators that can help identify whether someone is | | | | Of course, for a person to realize that they are an |
| descending into complete alcohol addiction. | | | | alcohlic can be very confronting, to say the least. Such |
| Ask them these nine questions: | | | | a discovery can easily cause suicidal thoughts and |
| 1. Do you find yourself drinking alone regularly? | | | | tendencies. For this reason, once a person admits that |
| 2. Do you find yourself making excuses in order to | | | | they have the disease, they need to be affirmed that |
| pour yourself another drink? | | | | they have made the biggest and hardest step |
| 3. Do you sense an inability to finish drinking? | | | | towards recovery, simply through this admission. |
| 4. Is it hard to minimize your amount of alcohol | | | | If the person joins an Alcoholics Anonymous group, |
| drinking? | | | | they will find that every member of the group will |
| 5. Is there a history of an addiction to alcohol in the | | | | undertake their time of sharing by giving their name, |
| family? | | | | next by their confession, "I am an alcoholic". Ask any |
| 6. How do you respond if someone opposes you | | | | AA member. Owning the label is the starting point to |
| about your drinking? Do you get forceful? | | | | recovery! |
| 7. Has your diet suffered since drinking regularly? | | | | |