Part 1. Understanding Your Drinking

Drinking Habits

Understanding the nature of drinking, the dangers associated with drinking, and the instances that make you want to drink are important steps in your journey. This part of the guide will help you to understand your drinking patterns. Try to complete the questions below to see if you should examine your drinking patterns more closely:

If you answered affirmatively to one or more of the questions above, you may want to consider looking more closely at your drinking. Many people are not aware of all the ways that alcohol can affect their lives. The exercises on the following page(s) will help you to identify specific difficulties you might be facing. Your responses to these questions might alert you to problems that you have not thought about before.

1. How often do you have a drink containing alcohol? ²⁸
Never	Monthly or less	Two to four times a month	Two to three times a week	Four or more times a week
2. How many drinks containing alcohol do you have on a typical day when you are drinking?
1 or 2	3 or 4	5 or 6	7 to 9	10 or more
3. How often do you have six or more drinks on one occasion?
Never	Less than monthly	Monthly	Weekly	Daily or almost daily
4. How often during the past year have you found that you were not able to stop drinking once you’ve started?
Never	Less than monthly	Monthly	Weekly	Daily or almost daily
5. How often during the past year have you failed to do what was normally expected of you because of drinking?
Never	Less than monthly	Monthly	Weekly	Daily or almost daily
6. How often during the past year have you needed a first drink in the morning to get yourself going after a heavy drinking session?
Never	Less than monthly	Monthly	Weekly	Daily or almost daily
7. How often during the past year have you had a feeling of guilt or remorse after drinking?
Never	Less than monthly	Monthly	Weekly	Daily or almost daily
8. How often during the past year have you been unable to remember what happened the night before because you had been drinking?
Never	Less than monthly	Monthly	Weekly	Daily or almost daily
9. Have you or has someone else been injured as a result of your drinking?
No	Yes, but not in the past year	Yes, during the past year
10. Has a relative, friend, doctor, or other health care worker been concerned about your drinking or suggested you cut down?
No	Yes, but not in the past year	Yes, during the past year