If you are in doubt about whether you have a drinking problem, one of the best places to start is by taking the self test below. These questions are not intended to be used as part of a professional evaluation, but as a self-testing means to determine how much alcohol is influencing and affecting your life…
Of course this test has been modified to include many drugs and other addictive behaviours since it’s initial inception.
The test was founded by Dr Robert Victor Seliger while working in the Department of Psychiatry at the John Hopkins Hospital in the early 1930’s. Needless to say much has changed in the field of psychiatry since then and the modern professional diagnostic criteria includes far more depth analysis around behaviours and the cause and effects of substance use.
Go ahead and answer the questions as honestly as possible.
“John Hopkins 20 Questions: Are you an Alcoholic?”
- Do you lose time from work due to your drinking?
- Is drinking making your home life unhappy?
- Do you drink because you are shy around people?
- Is drinking affecting your reputation?
- Have you ever felt remorse after drinking?
- Have you gotten into financial difficulties as a result of your drinking?
- Do you turn to lower companions and an inferior environment when drinking?
- Does your drinking make you careless of your family’s welfare?
- Has your ambition decreased since drinking?
- Do you crave a drink at a definite time daily?
- Do you want a drink the next morning?
- Does drinking cause you to have difficulty in sleeping?
- Has your efficiency decreased since drinking?
- Is drinking jeopardising your job or business?
- Do you drink to escape from worries or troubles?
- Do you drink alone?
- Have you ever had a complete loss of memory as a result of your drinking?
- Has your physician ever treated you for drinking?
- Do you drink to build up your self-confidence?
- Have you ever been in a hospital or institution on account of drinking?
Results
If you have answered YES to any one of the questions, there is a warning that you may be an alcoholic.
If you have answered YES to any two, the chances are that you are most likely an alcoholic.
If you have answered YES to three or more, you are most definitely an alcoholic.
“First time I saw it was on a card in book at church. Next time I saw it I was in jail.”
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