Am I An Alcoholic Test

Have you been wondering if you are an alcoholic or a problem drinker? Take this short alcohol test for adults to find out if you have a drinking problem or are just drinking too much.

"Am I an alcoholic?"- Test to take-up when you’re uncertain about drinking habits

Drinking casually with friends for fun doesn’t seem alcoholic; the classic picture of an alcoholic is someone whose life is falling apart, doesn’t have a job, or stealing money to drink. But this is not true; someone who looks pretty perfect and functional from the outer can be alcoholic. “Am I an alcoholic” is a self-assessment test that helps when you are in a dilemma about your drinking habits or when you want to make sure your casual drinking is not turning into an addiction. The“Am I an alcoholic” test's main motive is to help diagnose alcoholic addiction in individuals. This is basically used in primary care settings and self-assessment.

Don't believe stereotypes: Alcoholism takes many forms

A person with a great job, paying his bills promptly, having great friends, and drinking for fun cannot be framed as an alcoholic. He may not be suffered or come across a setback in life due to alcohol drinking. But alcoholism takes many forms; it doesn’t restrict itself to stereotype alcoholism discussed in the previous section. Alcoholism or alcohol addiction is a dependence where the individuals have a physical or psychological compulsion to drink alcohol.

A person who exhibits this pattern of excessive drinking comes under the Alcoholic category. But how much, in reality, is “excessive drinking”?. There are two types,

Heavy drinking- Drinking more than 14 drinks a week or two drinks a day. This category is termed as heavy drinkers.

Binge drinking - This is having more quantity of alcohol at a time. For men, it is 5 or more drinks within 2 hours and for women, it is 4 or more.

So don’t conclude your drinking habits without assessing what actually is happening through a test like “Am I an alcoholic.”

The warning signals never to ignore on your Alcoholism

We saw heavy drinking and binge drinking previously, but that is not the only way to tell if someone is an alcoholic or not. There are other red signals you may come across that clearly warns about the addictive behavior towards alcohol.

• Enjoying drinking alone or in secrecy. A habit or act that you want to hide from others is definitely an addiction.
• Not keeping up with major responsibilities at home, work, or studies. Making drinking priority over other tasks of your routine.
• Extreme mood swings and irritability. Feelings of guilt associated with drinking.
• Losing friends or other relationships due to drinking but still don’t want to quit it.
• Using alcohol to cope up with bad moods or loss.
• Drinking in the morning, when you are alone at home.
• Continue to drink despite health issues, can’t control the urge.

If you or your loved ones are going through these symptoms, make sure you seek help from a health practitioner and give them moral support to ensure they are not alone in dealing with the problem.

"Am I an alcoholic" test: Creating consciousness towards Mental & physical health

“Am I an alcoholic” test is a 10-item questionnaire that screens for harmful addictive behavior towards alcohol consumption. An assessment test like “Am I an alcoholic” helps you determine whether you have a drinking problem or worse. This test is a self-guided assessment that has been created from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which is the standard criteria for diagnosing mental health and substance use disorders. It should not be considered as a final diagnosis but can be your first step in determining whether your drinking habits are a reason for concern.

Roughly one-third of individuals suffering from alcoholism are also struggling with a mental illness(Source: National Alliance on mental illness). Many mental health issues can co-occur with Alcoholism, like depression, stress, anxiety disorder, and even many bipolar disorder cases. Apart from this, your physical health is affected largely due to alcohol consumption. Knowing what you are going through is very important to solve the problem; taking up an “Am I an alcoholic” test can be the first step towards good mental and physical health.

Characteristics of the "Am I an alcoholic" test

The core concept of the “Am I an alcohol” test is framed around alcoholism and alcohol abuse symptoms. These 10 questions can be connected to the symptoms of alcoholism. It takes less amount of time to finish this test; it reduces the effort of the individual who is taking it up and also the medical practitioner. The results are more accurate and precise to identify alcoholic addiction in individuals.

Each question is given with 5 response categories; each of them is given a score of 0 to 4. Then the score of each question is added to get the total score. Accordingly, the level of alcohol addiction is determined.

The scores range from 0 to 40, Individuals with

Scores of 8-15: Can be given little advice to reduce the focus on reducing alcohol consumption. They can manage things with some lifestyle changes and self-control.

Scores of 16-19: Can suggest moderate counseling, and continued monitoring will be helpful to treat them.

A score of 20 and above: Clearly shows a high-level addiction for alcohol and needs further diagnosis and alcohol dependence treatment.

Conclusion

According to a 2019 survey, globally, 25.8% of the people above 18 engage in binge drinking. 6.3% reported that they have engaged in heavy alcohol use in the past 1 month. This is highly alarming and considered a major health threat to the overall younger population. You can bring in a solution or a change only when you diagnose what you are going through or the real problem. Awareness is the first step towards change, taking up a self-administered test, and not hesitating to opt for further treatment.

To get started easily on similar topic visit Drug and Alcohol assessment template page.