How do I know if I am an alcoholic?

That is a good question. In fact, most doctors will not pick up a diagnosis of alcoholism in their patients, despite all of their medical training! There are a number of signs and symptoms associated with alcoholism and many different types of tests that can be done.

Without getting too complicated, here is a very simple 4 question test called the CAGE Questionnaire that is fairly good at picking up if you have an alcohol problem. The CAGE (C-A-G-E is an acronym) questionnaire was developed by Dr. John Ewing in 1970, founding director of the Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Even though it was developed a long time ago, CAGE is still one of the best internationally used assessment instruments for identifying problems with alcohol. Here is the test.... just answer yes or no to the following 4 questions:

1. Have you ever felt you should Cut down on your drinking?
2. Have people Annoyed you by criticising 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
nerves or get rid of a hangover (Eye-opener)?

If you answered "yes" to two or more of these four questions, it is very likely that you are a problem drinker.

One of the most important questions that a counselor can ask when assessing whether a person has an alcohol problem, is "how has the use of alcohol impacted your life?" If alcohol has had a negative overall impact on you as a person, some soul-searching must be done, regardless of how you scored on the CAGE.

John Neuhaus, M.D.