Twelve questions only you can answer - Utah Alcoholics Anonymous

IS A.A. FOR YOU?

Only you can decide whether you want to
give A.A.a try —
whether you think it can help you.

We who are in A.A. came because
we finally gave up trying to control our drinking. We still
hated to admit that we could never drink safely. Then we heard
from other A.A. members that we were sick. (We thought so for
years!) We found out that many people suffered from the same
feelings of guilt and loneliness and hopelessness that we did.
We found out that we had these feelings because we had the
disease of alcoholism.

We decided to try and face
up to what alcohol had done to us. Here are some of the questions
we tried to answer honestly. If we answered YES to four
or more questions, we were in deep trouble with our drinking.
See how you do. Remember, there is no disgrace in facing up
to the fact that you have a problem.

Answer YES or NO to the following questions.

1 – Have you ever decided
to stop drinking for a week or so, but only lasted for
a couple of days?
Most of us in A.A. made all kinds of promises to ourselves
and to our families. We could not keep them. Then we came to
A.A. A.A. said: “”Just try not to drink today.”” (If you do not
drink today, you cannot get drunk today.)

Yes

No

2 – Do you wish people
would mind their own business about your drinking– stop
telling you what to do?
In A.A. we do not tell anyone to do anything. We just talk
about our own drinking, the trouble we got into, and how we
stopped. We will be glad to help you, if you want us to.

Yes

No

3 – Have you ever switched
from one kind of drink to another in the hope that this
would keep you from getting drunk?
We tried all kinds of ways. We made our drinks weak. Or just
drank beer. Or we did not drink cocktails. Or only drank on
weekends. You name it, we tried it. But if we drank anything
with alcohol in it, we usually got drunk eventually.

Yes

No

4 – Have you had to have
an eye-opener upon awakening during the past year?
Do you need a drink to get started, or to stop shaking? This
is a pretty sure sign that you are not drinking “”socially.””

Yes

No

5 – Do you envy people
who can drink without getting into trouble?
At one time or another, most of us have wondered why we were
not like most people, who really can take it or leave it.

Yes

No

6 – Have you had problems
connected with drinking during the past year?
Be honest! Doctors say that if you have a problem with alcohol
and keep on drinking, it will get worse — never better. Eventually,
you will die, or end up in an institution for the rest of your
life. The only hope is to stop drinking.

Yes

No

7 – Has your drinking
caused trouble at home?
Before we came into A.A., most of us said that it was the people
or problems at home that made us drink. We could not see that
our drinking just made everything worse. It never solved problems
anywhere or anytime.

Yes

No

8 – Do you ever try to
get “”extra”” drinks at a party because you do not get enough?
Most of us used to have a “”few”” before we started out if we
thought it was going to be that kind of party. And if drinks
were not served fast enough, we would go some place else to
get more.

Yes

No

9 – Do you tell yourself
you can stop drinking any time you want to, even though
you keep getting drunk when you don’t mean to?
Many of us kidded ourselves into thinking that we drank because
we wanted to. After we came into A.A., we found out that once
we started to drink, we couldn’t stop.

Yes

No

10 – Have you missed
days of work or school because of drinking?
Many of us admit now that we “”called in sick”” lots of times
when the truth was that we were hung-over or on a drunk.

Yes

No

11 – Do you have “”blackouts””?
A “”blackout”” is when we have been drinking hours or days which
we cannot remember. When we came to A.A., we found out that
this is a pretty sure sign of alcoholic drinking.

Yes

No

12 – Have you ever felt
that your life would be better if you did not drink?
Many of us started to drink because drinking made life seem
better, at least for a while. By the time we got into A.A.,
we felt trapped. We were drinking to live and living to drink.
We were sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Yes

No

Did you answer YES four
or more times? If so, you are probably in trouble with alcohol.
Why do we say this? Because thousands of people in A.A. have
said so for many years. They found out the truth about themselves — the
hard way.

But again, only you can
decide whether you think A.A. is for you. Try to keep an open
mind on the subject. If the answer is YES, we will be
glad to show you how we stopped drinking ourselves. Just call.

A.A. does not promise to solve
your life’s problems. But we can show you how we are learning
to live without drinking “”one day at a time.”” We stay away
from that “”first drink.”” If there is no first one, there cannot
be a tenth one. And when we got rid of alcohol, we found that
life became much more manageable.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS® is
a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength
and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem
and help others to recover from alcoholism.

The only requirement for membership
is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees
for A.A. membership; we are self-supporting through our
own contributions.

A.A. is not allied with any sect, denomination,
politics, organization or institution; does not wish to engage
in any controversy; neither endorses nor opposes any causes.
Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics
to achieve sobriety.

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