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Is A.A. for me?

Only you can decide whether you want to give A.A.a try - whether you think it can help you.
We who are in A.A. came because we finally gave up trying to control our drinking. We still hated to admit that we could never drink safely. Then we heard from other A.A. members that we were sick. (We thought so for years!) We found out that many people suffered from the same feelings of guilt and loneliness and hopelessness that we did. We found out that we had these feelings because we had the disease of alcoholism.
We decided to try and face up to what alcohol had done to us. Here are some of the questions we tried to answer honestly. If we answered YES to four or more questions, we were in deep trouble with our drinking. See how you do. Remember, there is no disgrace in facing up to the fact that you have a problem.
Answer YES or NO to the following questions.

  1. Have you ever decided to stop drinking for a week or so, but only lasted for a couple of days? Most of us in A.A. made all kinds of promises to ourselves and to our families. We could not keep them. Then we came to A.A. A.A. said: "Just try not to drink today." (If you do not drink today, you cannot get drunk today.)

  2. Do people you know ever question or criticize your drinking? Does it annoy you when that happens? Do you wish people would mind their own business about your drinking-- stop telling you what to do? In A.A. we do not tell anyone to do anything. We just talk about our own drinking, the trouble we got into, and how we stopped. We will be glad to help you, if you want us to. Have you ever switched from one kind of drink to another in the hope that this would keep you from getting drunk? We tried all kinds of ways. We made our drinks weak. Or just drank beer. Or we did not drink cocktails. Or only drank on weekends. You name it, we tried it. But if we drank anything with alcohol in it, we usually got drunk eventually.

  3. Have you had to have an eye-opener upon awakening during the past year? Do you need a drink to get started, or to stop shaking? This is a pretty sure sign that you are not drinking "socially."

  4. Do you ever feel bad or guilty about your drinking habits? Do you envy people who can drink without getting into trouble? At one time or another, most of us have wondered why we were not like most people, who really can take it or leave it.

  5. Have you had problems connected with drinking during the past year? Be honest! Doctors say that if you have a problem with alcohol and keep on drinking, it will get worse -- never better. Eventually, you will die, or end up in an institution for the rest of your life. The only hope is to stop drinking.
  6. Has your drinking caused trouble at home? Before we came into A.A., most of us said that it was the people or problems at home that made us drink. We could not see that our drinking just made everything worse. It never solved problems anywhere or anytime.
  7. Do you ever try to get "extra" drinks at a party because you do not get enough? Most of us used to have a "few" before we started out if we thought it was going to be that kind of party. And if drinks were not served fast enough, we would go some place else to get more.

  8. Do you tell yourself you can stop drinking any time you want to, even though you keep getting drunk when you don't mean to? Many of us kidded ourselves into thinking that we drank because we wanted to. After we came into A.A., we found out that once we started to drink, we couldn't stop.

  9. Have you missed days of work or school because of drinking? Many of us admit now that we "called in sick" lots of times when the truth was that we were hung-over or on a drunk.

  10. Do you have "blackouts"? A "blackout" is when we have been drinking hours or days which we cannot remember. When we came to A.A., we found out that this is a pretty sure sign of alcoholic drinking.

  11. Have you ever felt that your life would be better if you did not drink? Do you ever feel a strong craving for alcohol? Some people crave alcohol the same way they crave food when they're hungry. Do you have a high tolerance for alcohol? Many people who suffer from alcoholism have to drink a lot before they get drunk. Many of us started to drink because drinking made life seem better, at least for a while. By the time we got into A.A., we felt trapped. We were drinking to live and living to drink. We were sick and tired of being sick and tired.


Did you answer YES four or more times? If so, you are probably in trouble with alcohol. Even if you answered yes to only two or three you may be developing a dependency on alcohol. Why do we say this? Because thousands of people in A.A. have said so for many years. They found out the truth about themselves the hard way.

But again, only you can decide whether you think A.A. is for you. Try to keep an open mind on the subject. If the answer is YES, we will be glad to show you how we stopped drinking ourselves. Just call.

A.A. does not promise to solve your life's problems. But we can show you how we are learning to live without drinking "one day at a time." We stay away from that "first drink." If there is no first one, there cannot be a tenth one. And when we got rid of alcohol, we found that life became much more manageable. Am I An Alcoholic? Perhaps you have already answered this nagging question and made a decision about your drinking problem. Perhaps not. At any rate it's necessary for you to come to grips with this question. To answer this question, "Am I An Alcoholic?" ask yourself the following questions and answer them as honestly as you can.

  1. Do I lose time from work due to drinking?
  2. Is drinking making my home life unhappy?
  3. Do I drink because I am shy with other people?
  4. Is drinking affecting my reputation?
  5. Have I ever felt remorse after drinking?
  6. Have I gotten into financial difficulties as a result of my drinking?
  7. Do I turn to lower companions and an inferior environment when drinking?
  8. Does my drinking make me careless of my family's welfare?
  9. Has my ambition decreased since drinking?
  10. Do I crave a drink at a definite time daily?
  11. Do I want a drink the next morning?
  12. Does drinking cause me to have difficulty sleeping?
  13. Has my efficiency decreased since drinking?
  14. Is drinking jeopardizing my job or business?
  15. Do I drink to escape from worries or troubles?
  16. Do I drink alone?
  17. Have I ever had a complete loss of memory as a result of drinking?
  18. Has a physician ever treated me for drinking?
  19. Do I drink to build up my self-confidence?
  20. Have I ever been to a hospital or institution on account of drinking?

If you have answered yes to any one of the questions there is a definite warning that you may be alcoholic. If you have answered yes to any two of the questions the chances are that you are an alcoholic. If you have answered yes to three or more of the question you are definitely an alcoholic. DRINKING QUESTIONNAIRE FOR WOMEN From the New York City Affiliate of the National Council on Alcoholism Do You...

  1. Need a 'pick-me-up' drink before starting daily housekeeping chores?
  2. Have difficulty combing your children's hair or getting them ready for school?
  3. Have difficulty remembering what you saw or did the night before?
  4. Feel angry with yourself after a drinking binge?
  5. Find the children making excuses why their friends can't come over to dinner?
  6. Turn to drinking, them pick-me-up drugs, when the job gets hectic?
  7. Find the family budget needs more and more rearranging so you can afford to buy more alcohol?
  8. Pride yourself in being able to drink your friends under the table?
  9. Find yourself drinking more when your husband is out of town?
  10. Find your husband is having to make more and more excuses why you can't go to work in the morning?
  11. Find yourself relieved when he's gone?
  12. Envy people who can drink without getting into trouble?
  13. Find yourself being passed over when promotions come up...despite the fact you feel you're doing a good job?
  14. Feel you could do more with your life if you did not drink?
  15. Find that friends and neighbors are not inviting you to parties any more--despite the fact that you are the "life of the party"?
  16. Find that others around you (your husband, children, boss or co-workers) are having to do more and more of your work?

If you answer "yes" to any of the above questions, you may be developing a drinking problem If you answer "yes" to any 4 or more of these questions, you have a drinking problem. If so, have you ever wondered what life would be like without a drink?

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