A ray of hope

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Why did we drink?

We drank to feel heavenly and knew hell.

We drank to forget and were haunted.

We drank for freedom and became slaves.

We drank for power and were powerless.

We drank to erase problems and saw them multiply.

We drank to cope with life and invited death, or worse.

--Dick H.

Addiction Test

The best known and most studied short screening test is the CAGE (need to cut down on drinking, annoyance, guilt about drinking, need for eye-opener) questionnaire.

  1. Have you ever felt the need to cut down on your drinking?
  2. Have people annoyed you by criticizing your drinking?
  3. Have you ever felt bad or guilty about your drinking?
  4. Have you ever had a drink first thing in the morning to steady your nerves or get rid of a hangover? (Eye opener)

Scoring

Item responses on the CAGE are scored 0 or 1, with a higher score an indication of alcohol problems. A total score of 2 or greater is considered clinically significant.

Developed by Dr. John Ewing, founding Director of the Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CAGE is an internationally used assessment instrument for identifying alcoholics. It is particularly popular with primary care givers. CAGE has been translated into several languages.

For another test click on the 20 questions button