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I am frequently asked if I think that somebody's drinking is a problem. This is often presented as a list of justifications why the questioner is in fact not drinking in an alcoholic way. However, this question can only be answered for oneself, anything more is just opinion. Below is the World Health Organization’s AUDIT test that help us to assess the state of our relationship with alcohol.  The AUDIT Test for Alcohol AddictionThe AUDIT (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test) was developed by the World Health Organization (WHO). The test correctly classifies 95% of people into either alcoholics or non-alcoholics. It was tested on 2000 people before being published. To correctly answer some of these questions you need to know the definition of a drink. For this test one drink is: One can of beer (12 oz or approx 330 ml of 5% alcohol), or One glass of wine (5 oz or approx 140 ml of 12% alcohol), or One shot of spirit (1.5 oz or approx 40 ml 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 been unable to remember what happened the night before because of your 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. It may seem like the AUDIT questionnaire is an easy test to fail. If you applied this test to other aspects of your life you will almost certainly come up as being addicted to something. For example, most people watch too much television, social media or eat too much of their favorite food. But those are so-called "soft addictions", and the AUDIT questionnaire was not designed to assess them. It is extremely reliable when it comes to assessing alcohol addiction. The sad fact is that many people do not take action before it is too late. If you haven't scored very well in this test, then now could be the right time to address the life issues that cause you to use alcohol as a part of a coping strategy. At Soul Recovery Andalusia we offer programs to help you with these issues.
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