Some people get addicted to alcohol. Some drink it occasionally, and many a time it becomes hard for them to know if they are alcoholic or not. Here is a test to know the level of your alcoholism.
A lot of people mistake alcoholics for people who have a higher alcohol tolerance or people who drink a lot, or those who get high easily. An alcoholic is a person whose life has become dependent on it. An alcoholic can be someone who has very less control on his/her drinking habits, and the one who loses control over himself after drinking. But how do we determine rationally whether a person is alcoholic or not?
There is a test known as the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST), which is a self assessment test comprising 22 questions, and based on the answers of which is determined whether a person is alcoholic or not. The test is answered in a yes/no format. Here are the questions:
- Do you feel you are a normal drinker? (‘normal’ – drink as much or less than most other people)?
- Have you ever awakened the morning after some drinking the night before and found that you could not remember a part of the evening?
- Does any near relative or close friend ever worry or complain about your drinking?
- Can you stop drinking without difficulty after one or two drinks?
- Do you ever feel guilty about your drinking?
- Have you ever attended a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)?
- Have you ever got into physical fights when drinking?
- Has drinking ever created problems between you and a close relative or a friend?
- Has any family member or close friend gone to anyone for help about your drinking?
- Have you ever lost friends because of your drinking?
- Have you ever got into trouble at work because of drinking?
- Have you ever lost a job because of drinking?
- Have you ever neglected your obligations, your family, or your work for two or more days in a row because you were drinking?
- Do you drink before noon fairly often?
- Have you ever been told you have liver trouble such as cirrhosis?
- After heavy drinking have you ever had delirium tremens (D.T.’s), severe shaking, visual or auditory (hearing) hallucinations?
- Have you ever gone to anyone for help about your drinking?
- Have you ever been hospitalized because of drinking?
- Has your drinking ever resulted in your being hospitalized in a psychiatric ward?
- Have you ever gone to any doctor, social worker, clergyman or mental health clinic for help with any emotional problem in which drinking was part of the problem?
- Have you been arrested more than once for driving under the influence of alcohol?
- Have you ever been arrested, even for a few hours because of other behavior while drinking?
You will add one mark for each ‘yes’ expect these two questions where the answer is ‘no’:
- Do you feel you are a normal drinker? (‘normal’ – drink as much or less than most other people)?
- Can you stop drinking without difficulty after one or two drinks?
After you are done with the test, you can add up the scores. If the total is between 0 and 2, then you’re clean, without a trace of alcohol addiction. If the score is between 3 and 6, then you might face problems with alcohol abuse unless you rein in the drinking habit. If you have scored more than 6, then you’re having a tendency towards alcoholism and need alcohol treatment.
