Twelve questions only you can answer
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.)
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.
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.
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."
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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