What do you think and say to yourself about using alcohol and other drugs? Check off any statements you have made to others or thought to yourself.
*(A)*
___________I don’t have a problem
___________I can handle it
___________I’m not hooked – I can quit any time I want
___________Leave me alone – it’s my business
___________I’m not hurting anyone but myself
___________So what?
___________(Other)
*(B)*
___________Sure I drink (Smoke, snort etc) but it’s not a problem
___________It was just a little dent in the car. At least I didn’t hurt anyone
___________It’s not a big deal
___________A least I didn’t behave as bad as______________
___________I made it home all right. Everything must have been okay
___________It will be all right if I just apologize and cool it for a while
___________(Other)
*(C)*
___________It is not the booze (coke, pills, etc) it’s the stress (coffee, cigarettes, ___________allergies, medication, etc)
___________It wasn’t my fault – it was (_______ __________’s) fault for getting me drunk
___________I need it because of my bad (nerve, children etc)
___________My wife (husband, wife, kid etc) drive me to do it
___________I would have been alright if I hadn’t mixed drinks (drank on an empty . stomach, been sold coke cut with speed
___________(Other)
*(D)*
___________I’m self medicating. It helps me relax (cope with pain, digest, etc)
___________It’s been a day that would drive anyone to drink
___________I got carried away because I was so happy (sad, mad, upset, nervous, etc)
___________Everyone makes mistakes once in a while
___________I’ll just have one drink (shot, etc) to steady my nerves
___________(Other)
*(E)*
___________A night cap will help me sleep. If I get a good night sleep, I won’t feel such . a strong need to drink tomorrow
___________I need the hair of the dog that bit me
___________Its hot (cold, rainy, nice, etc) lets have one
___________I’m already loaded. One more won’t make a difference
___________I’ll quit tomorrow
___________(Other)
*(F)*
___________Alcohol and drugs aren’t the cause of my problems. They’re just a . . symptom of my crazy life
___________I don’t know why I have this strange pain (when you know it’s probably an . ulcer or liver damage caused by alcohol)
___________We need more fibber in our diet (when you know your diarrhea and . constipation are caused by drinking)
___________My allergies are awful today (when you have the coke sniffles)
___________You’d drink too if you lived my life. Let me tell you about…
___________(Other)
*(G)*
___________You’ve got a lot of nerve talking about my drinking
___________Get off my back
___________As soon as I unwind a little you’re breathing down my neck
___________You’re just like my mother – nag, nag, and nag.
___________I’ll stop doping (drinking, smoking, etc) when you stop throwing money . away. (Get a job, stop crying all the time, stop cheating on me, etc)
___________Why don’t you clean up this dump instead of counting my drinks?
___________Oh yeah? And who wrecked the car (ran over his own dog, set the mattress . on fire, etc)
___________(Other)
Men and women drink because they like the effects produced by alcohol. The sensation is so elusive that, while they admit it’s injurious, they cannot after a time differentiate the true from the false. To them, the alcoholic life seems the only normal one.
All alcoholics have one thing in common: they cannot start drinking without developing the phenomenon of craving. This phenomenon as we have suggested, may be the manifestation of an allergy which differentiates these people, and sets them apart as a distinct entity. It has never been, by any treatment by which we are familiar, permanently eradicated. The only relief we have to suggest is entire abstinence.
/(Alcoholics Anonymous, pg xxiii, xxiv)/
