Do You Have a Problem with Drugs?
This
web page contains the following three sections:
Adapted
from the book
How to Quit
Drugs for Good
(for
more on this book, click here)
Do
You Have a Problem with Drugs?
"To
understand is to forgive, even oneself."
-Alexander
Chase
Is
your use of drugs causing problems for you? It's up to you to find
out. Here, you can try a couple of tests to help you evaluate your situation.
Take
a look at yourself. Basically you know your own condition.
Do you feel you have a problem with drugs? Somewhere deep
inside, you know. Look inside yourself to see what you can find out.
Here's
your first test:
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Do
you sometimes think you have a drug problem?
[]
Yes [] No
|
Your
intuition is almost always correct. What you answer
is probably true.
But
how can a one-question test tell you anything? It's simple.
Most of the time, you deny the problem or hide from it by
making excuses. It's only natural to protect something so dear
to you. But your defenses break down once in a while.
So
if you sometimes think you have a problem, you almost
certainly
do.
Imagine
yourself the morning after a night of heavy using. Your
body feels brittle and weak, your defenses shattered. You're completely
nauseated and you're in pain. This morning you
decide not to do any drugs to calm yourself down or to pick yourself
up. And, for the moment, you truly feel the misery which
drugs are causing you.
This
morning, you've had it. You promise yourself you'll stop
using drugs for good. But by the end of the day, your defenses
return. You begin to excuse yourself for "one bad night."
You "didn't eat enough last night," or you were "really mad
at somebody," or else you find some other excuse for using too
much. Then you allow yourself to use "just a little tonight."
You say, "It's okay now...I was just having a couple of
problems yesterday."
You
might go through this hundreds of times before you finally
recognize the pattern. Almost everybody does. So how can you recognize the
pattern of drug addiction, also
called
"problem using?" Here's a handy definition to guide you.
Problem using means that you're using too much, too often, and
you're out of control. Let's look at this 3-part definition.
Once
again, trust your own judgment. If you feel you're using
too much on certain occasions, your feeling is probably
correct.
If you feel you're getting high too often, your feeling
is probably correct. If you feel it is happening because
you can't control it, you are probably addicted. If drugs eliminate your
self-control, or if getting high alters your
personality, you almost certainly have a problem.
Pay
attention to your deepest feelings. Try writing them down. Write how you
feel about your drug-use, how you
feel about how much and how often you use, and what kind of
control you have over it. You don't need to analyze it.
Just
say what you feel...it may surprise you.
Top
Instructions.
Answer the following questions honestly. Then score yourself according to
the key.
-
Have
you ever felt you should cut down on your drug use?
[] Y
[] N
-
Do
you ever use drugs when you’re alone?
[] Y [] N
-
Have
you ever used more of a drug than you intended in a given period of
time?
[] Y
[] N
-
Have
you ever used drugs for a longer period of time than you originally
intended?
[] Y [] N
-
Have
you ever used more than one drug at a time?
[] Y [] N
-
Concerning
your use of drugs, has anyone ever told you that you use too much?
[] Y [] N
-
Have
you ever taken one drug to overcome the effects of another?
[] Y [] N
-
Have
you ever thought that your life might be better if you didn’t take
drugs?
[] Y [] N
-
Have
you ever felt angry at yourself or guilty because of your drug use?
[] Y [] N
-
Do
you regularly use a drug at certain times of the day or on certain
occasions, for example, when you go to bed, when you wake up, before
or after a meal, or before or after sex?
[] Y [] N
-
Have
you ever lied about your drug use to family members or friends?
[] Y [] N
-
Have
you ever lied to a doctor or faked symptoms to get prescription drugs?
[] Y [] N
-
Have
you ever stolen drugs?
[] Y [] N
-
Have
you ever stolen money or material goods that you could sell to obtain
drugs?
[] Y [] N
-
Have
you ever done things to obtain drugs that you later regretted?
[] Y
-
Has
your drug use ever caused problems for you with school or with work?
[] Y [] N
-
Have
you noticed that you need to use more and more of a drug to get you
high?
[] Y [] N
-
Do
you experience withdrawal symptoms when you go without drugs for a few
days?
[] Y [] N
-
Do
you panic when your drug supply gets low?
[] Y [] N
-
Have
you ever done something when you were high that you felt guilty about
later?
[] Y [] N
-
Have
you ever gotten into fights when high on drugs?
[] Y [] N
-
Have
you ever been arrested for any drug-related activity (including
possession)?
[] Y [] N
-
Have
you ever been diagnosed with a medical
problem related to your drug use?
[] Y [] N
-
Have
you ever overdosed on a drug?
[] Y [] N
-
Have
you ever attended a treatment program specifically related to drug
use?
[] Y [] N
-
Have
you associated with people with whom you normally wouldn’t just so
you could have access to drugs?
[] Y [] N
-
Have
you stopped associating with any of your friends because they don’t
use drugs as much as you?
[] Y [] N
Key:
If you answered Yes to any two of these questions, this is a sign that
you have a problem with drugs. If you answered Yes to any three, the
chances are that you do have a problem with drugs. If you answered Yes to
four or more, you definitely have a problem with drugs. Top
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