| The signs of alcoholism are not always apparent, what | | | | But how far down the line are you and what are the |
| we perceive as a normal pattern of alcohol | | | | consequences? |
| consumption, could be causing long term chronic health | | | | One final test will reveal the true level of your |
| problems and in all probability may be impacting | | | | dependency, accurately and give you a real indication |
| negatively in your every day life. | | | | of where you find yourself now. The test is called |
| Alcohol dependency is a slow process of attrition, a | | | | AUDIT (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test) and |
| relentless wearing down of both your mental and | | | | was commissioned by the World Health Organisation |
| physical resistance; where once you had control of it, | | | | as a means to identifying persons with hazardous and |
| sadly it may now have control over you? What you | | | | harmful patterns of alcohol consumption. |
| face right now is a world dominated by a substance | | | | AUDIT if a freely available test for health care |
| that once softened the blows of life, one that is | | | | professionals which scores your responses to multiple |
| consequently rendering you powerless to cope with | | | | choice questions. This test is not a pass or fail, it |
| even the trivial hurdles of normal existence. A prisoner | | | | merely acts as a screening test to highlight excessive |
| of chemical abuse, in a cage of dependency, that is of | | | | drinking habits and acts as a framework for health |
| your own making. | | | | care teams to help hazardous and harmful drinkers to |
| So how do you break free? | | | | reduce or cease they're alcohol consumption. |
| The first step is to ask four simple questions of | | | | But what if you are not a health care professional and |
| yourself, the four fundamental questions of CAGE. | | | | need answers right now - what good is it if you |
| CAGE is a questionnaire that is used widely as a | | | | cannot interpret what it means? |
| screening test for alcoholism; it was developed | | | | Fortunately this is not a problem; this test can be |
| originally to identify the "hidden alcoholic" in hospitals | | | | readily found on-line in an automated format, it will take |
| and primary health care settings. The word CAGE is | | | | no more than a few minutes to complete and the |
| an acronym of its four questions, Cut, Annoyed, Guilty | | | | results mirror perfectly the guidelines presented in the |
| and Eye-opener. | | | | original AUDIT report, giving you the vital information |
| 1. Have you ever felt you needed to Cut down on | | | | you need to take action and seek recovery. |
| your drinking? | | | | The signs of alcoholism are often masked by our |
| 2. Have people Annoyed you by criticizing your | | | | everyday existence, we need that certain jolt that will |
| drinking? | | | | open our eyes to the harm we are inflicting on |
| 3. Have you ever felt Guilty about drinking? | | | | ourselves. Alcohol dependency is not just the chronic |
| 4. Have you ever felt you needed a drink first thing in | | | | street alcoholic, it's the problem drinker, the long term |
| the morning (Eye-opener) to steady your nerves or to | | | | abuser, the person who drinks just to cope; everyday |
| get rid of a hangover? | | | | people like you and me who have tried to soften the |
| To answer yes to 2 or more questions, indicates | | | | daily blows of life with alcohol, but who have simply |
| clinical significance and points to the fact that you may | | | | lost control. |
| have alcohol dependence. | | | | |