The abstinence thread

There are many undiagnosed alcoholics. Simply telling them to try to drink less tends not to work.

There are many little quizzes online such as the following

[]Do you ever drink to escape from your problems or worries?
[]Do you drink because you are shy or need a boost in morale?
[]Do you drink on your own at all?
[]Do you often have five, six or more units at one time?
[]Do you ever feel embarrassed or annoyed with yourself after drinking?
[]Have you ever had a blackout or forgotten what you have done as a result of drinking?
[]Have you missed going to work because of heavy drinking the night before?
[]Is drinking upsetting people at home – your family or people you live with?
[]Have you got a bit of a name for yourself as a drinker?
[]Does drinking make you thoughtless and careless?
[]Do you hide your drinking, or lie about the amount you drink?
[]Has drinking caused problems at work?
[]Do you habitually crave a drink at the same time each day?
[]Do you wake up and want a drink the next morning?
[]Has a medic ever treated you for drinking or drink related problems such as violence or drunken accidents?
[]Have you ever been to A&E because of drinking – either for accidents or alcoholic poisoning or illness?
[*]In the last year have your friends, family or doctor been worried about your drinking or told you to cut down?

For the person who is struggling to reduce their intake it is likely that they would answer yes to 3 or 4 of these questions.

I have answered these questions as my flat-mate and it's clear she has a massive drink problem. I will enrol her on an AA course with immediate effect.

As an example: This weekend she came in very drunk, woke me up and made me count to 5, then straight away made me count to 7, we had a lengthy conversation of which she remembered nothing in the morning. It's very, very alarming!!!