So you woke up to another hangover, the third time this week. You don’t remember what happened or how you got home. You know you’re drinking too much and you wonder if you’re already addicted to alcohol. If you think you are, take this AUDIT test to find out for sure.
While there are those who drink occasionally, there are also those who drink excessively–and they don’t know it. Excessive drinking can lead to many devastating consequences,including physical and mental harm. Many kinds of excessive drinking can be described as:
- drinking high amounts of alcohol on a daily basis;
- frequent binge drinking leading to complete intoxication;
- drinking that causes physical and mental problems; and
- alcohol dependence or addiction.
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Excessive drinking doesn’t just cause undesirable changes in the body and in the brain’s rewards system. It also causes breakdown of family, relationships, reputation, security, financial stability, profession or career, and many more. For some, their drinking have caused them to become hospitalized or in fatal conditions (if not death) due to high alcohol content in the blood or involvement in accidents due to intoxication.
The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) is a test developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) to correctly identify people who are alcoholic and non-alcoholic.
Try the test to find out if you’re an alcoholic or not.
The AUDIT Test for Alcoholism
Before you answer, you have to first define what a drink is. One drink is equal to the following:
- one can of beer = 12oz or approximately 330mL of 5% alcohol
- one glass of wine = 5oz or approximately 140mL of 12% alcohol
- one shot of liquor = 1.5oz of approximately 40mL of 40% alcohol
1. How often do you have a drink containing alcohol?
- Never (score 0)
- Monthly or Less (score 1)
- 2-4 times a month (score 2)
- 2-3 times a week (score 3)
- 4 or more times a week (score 4)
2. How many alcoholic drinks do you have on a typical day when you are drinking?
- 1 or 2 (0)
- 3 or 4 (1)
- 5 or 6 (2)
- 7-9 (3)
- 10 or more (4)
3. How often do you have 6 or more drinks on one occasion?
- Never (0)
- Less than monthly (1)
- Monthly (2)
- Weekly (3)
- Daily or almost daily (4)
4. How often during the past year have you found that you drank more or for a longer time than you intended?
- Never (0)
- Less than monthly (1)
- Monthly (2)
- Weekly (3)
- Daily or almost daily (4)
5. How often during the past year have you failed to do what was normally expected of you because of your drinking?
- Never (0)
- Less than monthly (1)
- Monthly (2)
- Weekly (3)
- Daily or almost daily (4)
6. How often during the past year have you had a drink in the morning to get yourself going after a heavy drinking session?
- Never (0)
- Less than monthly (1)
- Monthly (2)
- Weekly (3)
- Daily or almost daily (4)
7. How often during the past year have you felt guilty or remorseful after drinking?
- Never (0)
- Less than monthly (1)
- Monthly (2)
- Weekly (3)
- Daily or almost daily (4)
8. How often during the past year have you felt guilty or remorseful after drinking?
- Never (0)
- Less than monthly (1)
- Monthly (2)
- Weekly (3)
- Daily or almost daily (4)
9. Have you or anyone else been injured as a result of your drinking?
- No (0)
- Yes, but not in the past year (2)
- Yes, during the past year (4)
10. Has a relative, friend, doctor, or health care worker been concerned about your drinking, or suggested that you cut down?
- No (0)
- Yes, but not in the past year (2)
- Yes, during the past year (4)
YOUR SCORE: If you scored 8-10 or more, you are probably addicted to alcohol.
This AUDIT test is a helpful tool to help you reflect on your alcohol consumption. By changing a few terms, you can also actually apply this test to other aspects of your life to find out if you are addicted to something, such as gambling, drugs, sex, and many more.
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