Call 888-647-0579 to speak with an alcohol or drug abuse counselor.

Who Answers?

Do I Have an Alcohol Use Disorder

People who drink hazardous amounts of alcohol are at risk of becoming physically dependent, psychologically overwhelmed and essentially paralyzed by alcohol use disorder. The World Health Organization has developed a method of assessment and screening that helps to identify alcohol use disorder in heavy drinkers. This test, known widely as AUDIT or the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, is regularly used in treatment centers, hospital settings and by doctors to determine whether an individual is suffering from AUD.

How can you tell if you are suffering from an alcohol use disorder? According to the AUDIT, a test of 10 questions related to alcohol consumption, if a score of 8 or more is achieved on the AUDIT test, you may be suffering from AUD. According to the University of New Mexico, the AUDIT helps to identify people with harmful patterns of alcohol consumption and may be used to help identify people who may be suffering from alcohol dependence.

Questions to Ask Yourself

If you have a tough time controlling your alcohol intake and cannot stop drinking you may have a problem.

If you think you may be suffering from an alcohol use disorder, consider asking yourself the following questions:

Do I drink alcohol more than once a week?
Do I drink more than 2-3 drinks at a time?
Do I drink more than 6 drinks at a time?
Do I regularly drink more than 6 drinks at a time?
Have I had troubles with cutting back or not drinking over the past 12 months?
Over the past 12 months, have I ever had a problem with stopping alcohol consumption once it has started?
Have I ever missed a deadline or otherwise failed to uphold to my responsibility as a result of my drinking?
Have there been times in the past year that I have needed to drink alcohol in the morning in order to get myself going?
Has my drinking caused me guilt or shame in the past year?
Have I been injured or have I hurt someone else in the past 12 months as a result of my drinking?
Has someone expressed concern for my drinking over the past 12 months?
Have I tried to quit in the past 12 months?

If you answer yes to any of the above questions and you continue to use alcohol, there’s a good chance that you are suffering from an alcohol use disorder. While you may not be addicted yet, alcohol use disorder can and will lead to further complications and consequences if it is left untreated. Consider seeking help immediately to forego any further complications from this potential disease.

More Treatment & Detox Articles

Growing problem of prescription drug abuse

Prescription painkiller abuse is a rapidly growing and widespread problem, recently coming into full view due to high profile stories and tragic celebrity deaths. Conflicting messaging and the degradation associated with addiction often mislead people from understanding it as a disease, caused by an imbalance of receptors in the brain. American Board of Addiction Medicine….

Prescription Drug Needs Post Drug Treatment

If you or a loved one is recovering from a drug or alcohol addiction, the need to take prescription medications for an illness or injury can be both dangerous and scary. You don’t want to become addicted to drugs again and yet you know that you need to take the medication. How can you take….

Analysis of alcoholics' brains suggests treatment target

An analysis of brain tissue samples from chronic alcoholics reveals changes that occur at the molecular level in alcohol abuse – and suggests a potential treatment target, according to researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Reporting in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, the scientists said that a protein known as beta-catenin that is….

Underage drinking

Here are some sobering statistics for Madison County parents. # Madison County is in the top 10 counties in the state for underage DUI risks, says Patsy Hillard of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence of Central Mississippi. # While the national average is age 13 for children to start using alcohol and….

On Russians' drinking habits

A SuperJob.ru survey says most Russians believe alcohol abuse is their most negative character trait(!). 22% of 1800 respondents believe it is so, while 20% claim Russians’ curse is their laziness. Boozing has become something of a national character trait in Russia. Although statistics shows that alcohol consumption has been annually reducing in Russia, stories….