Do I Have a Drinking Problem? The Quiz I Took To Find Out and What Happened Next

Do you have a drinking problem? Or a problem with any substance or behavior? I asked myself this question years ago and found a quiz to help me find out.

Today I talk about my responses and what happened next. Did answering YES to every question get me to stop drinking? Or did I ignore all the warning signs and bury my head in the sand? Listen in and find out.

If you need help, reach out. There are so many people and organizations available. I know how hard it is to do that. I lived it. Don't let shame or fear keep you stuck in addiction. You don't need to keep living in bondage. You can and will recover. You just need to take the first step.

 I hope today's episode will offer some insight, encouragement and hope. Drop me a note at [e-mail] and let me know if it did.

I'm praying for each person who listens to this episode. May God meet you where you are and lead you to freedom.

Resources:

Take The Quiz
A Self-Assessment
My Recovery Story

Thanks so much for listening in today!

New episodes drop every Wednesday. Subscribe wherever you listen to yours so you don't miss a thing!

Let's Connect!!

Visit our website at Holy Recovery at https://holyrecovery.com

Join the conversation on Facebook at Holy Recovery.

I'm always just an email away too. Drop me a line at [e-mail]. I'd love to hear from you!

I'd be honored if you left a review, rate and subscribe. This really helps get the podcast out to others and hopefully reach someone who really needs it.

If you know someone who might benefit from the podcast, please share! No one should struggle alone.

See you next time!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hi, this is Suzanne, and welcome to Holy Recovery, a
podcast for believers recoveringtheir lives from the chains of
addiction.
Whether you're new to recovery,hoping to start, or have been
walking this journey for years,welcome.
You're among friends who get it.
I get it.
Now on to today's episode andyour weekly biblical shot of

(00:26):
hope, encouragement and truth.
I hope you enjoy it.
Hi and welcome.
This is Suzanne.
So tough topic today, but onethat can save your life.
Do you have a substance problem,a drinking problem, a problem

(00:50):
with food or gambling, or painpills or porn, do you?
The fact that you're listeningto this podcast is a clue.
I tell my recovery story on anearlier episode, but I spent 10
years addicted to pain medicineand finally broke that

(01:10):
dependence.
Then I spent another 10 yearsdrinking wine.
I was warned to stop drinkingalcohol after that first decade,
but I thought I knew better andthat I could handle it.
I couldn't, though I tried veryhard, even if we know in the

(01:31):
secret place in our heart that,houston, we have a problem.
It isn't easy to say it outloud, even to ourselves, and
maybe especially to ourselves.
Acknowledging a problem changesthings.
It's so much easier just toignore it.
I pretend everything is fine,even when we know for a fact, if

(01:56):
we're honest, that things arefar from fine.
It's a process.
Years ago, I took a quiz aboutwhether I had a drinking problem
.
I don't remember why exactly Itook the quiz that day, but I
did, and I really took the quizto convince myself I didn't have
a problem.

(02:16):
Slaid plans and spoiler alert.
People taking quizzes aboutwhether they have a drinking
problem probably do.
Normal drinkers, people withoutsubstance use disorder, don't
take those quizzes.
Anyway, here's the quiz.
Have any of these taken placewithin the last year?

(02:40):
Had times when you ended updrinking alcohol more or longer
than intended More than once,wanted or tried to reduce or
stop drinking but couldn't.
Spent a lot of time drinking orbeing sick from the after
effects.
Wanted to drink so badly youcouldn't think of anything else.

(03:00):
Found that drinking or beingsick from drinking often
interfered with work, family orschool duties.
Continue to drink alcohol eventhough it was causing trouble
with your family or friends.
Given up or caught back onactivities that were important,

(03:21):
interesting or pleasurable toyou in order to drink More than
once.
Gotten into situations while orafter consuming alcohol that
increased your chances ofgetting hurt, such as swimming,
driving, using machinery,continue to drink alcohol even
though it was making you feeldepressed, anxious or adding to

(03:43):
another health problem, or,after having a memory blackout,
had to drink much more than youonce did to get the effect you
want, or found that the usualnumber of drinks had much less
effect.
Found that, when the effects ofalcohol were wearing off, you
had withdrawal symptoms such astrouble sleeping, shakiness,
restlessness, nausea, sweating,racing heart or a seizure, or

(04:08):
sense things that were not there.
Yes, yes, yes.
I answered yes to all of them.
According to the Diagnostic andStatistical Manual of Mental
Disorders, the number of yesesdetermines a level of alcohol
use disorder.
A patient who answers two tothree questions in the

(04:29):
affirmative is considered tohave mild alcohol use disorder.
Those who cite four to five aremoderate cases.
Those who confirm six or moreare believed to be severely
affected by their alcoholconsumption.
I had 11 yeses, every singleone of them 11.

(04:52):
I was, in fact, severelyaffected by my alcohol
consumption.
Did I quit drinking after thiseye-opening quiz?
No, I didn't.
I closed my eyes.
Instead, people struggling withaddiction are masters at
justification, so I tucked thisquiz away in my mind and ignored

(05:16):
it.
I wasn't ready to face thereality of my addiction just yet
.
It would take me a few moreyears of heartache and misery to
face it, and even then I didn'treally want to.
God stepped in and did it forme.
So no, I didn't stop drinkingafter that quiz, though I should

(05:38):
have.
So how about you?
How many yeses did you have?
I think the second question isthe most telling.
More than once have you wantedor tried to reduce or stopped
drinking, but couldn't?
Lots of people who are normalsocial drinkers have drank more

(05:58):
than they wanted at some pointand felt badly afterwards, but
have any of them tried to reduceor stop and couldn't?
I think that's the truth tellerright there.
Have you ever tried to stopusing and couldn't?
I did many times and I couldn't, and sometimes I think I just
didn't want to.

(06:19):
There was definitely a time inmy life where I was in angry
denial and had no intention ofstopping.
One time my husband gotfrustrated with me for something
related to my drinking and Iquit for a few days.
Apparently, back then I couldquit for a few days without
health issues.
That was not the way it was.
At the end, anyway, trying tobe encouraging, he told me how

(06:40):
proud he was of me, and boy didthat make me mad.
Poor guy, poor guy.
I remember snapping at him,telling him it wasn't forever.
I felt like he was trying totake away my precious and I
wasn't having that.
Bless my little addicted heart.
I knew I was being unreasonableand unfair, but I wasn't ready

(07:04):
to stop.
I was not ready, but I dideventually stop, and I'm so
happy I did.
I look back at my life then andall I can see is how sad and
sick and afraid I was.
My life revolved around onething and had shrunk so much.

(07:24):
I didn't have a life where Godkeeps making my dreams come true
.
I had a very small life andit's truly amazing to me how
much my life has changed since.
I've been in recovery in everygood way.
So where are you?
Maybe you already know you havea problem, have come to terms

(07:45):
with it and are in recovery orworking on it.
If so, good job.
I know how hard that is, but wecan't fix what we won't admit.
But boy, that is not easy, isit?
If you're still trying, I getit.
Maybe today is the day youstart to get your life back and

(08:07):
start to recover who God intendsyou to be.
Maybe today is the day youstart to heal and get healthy
again, and that's the wonderfulthing.
If you're alive, there's hope.
You're listening to thispodcast.
God gave you a divineappointment today and you kept
it.
He brought you here for areason.

(08:28):
Say yes to him.
If you're ready to stop, thenext steps look different for
everyone.
You may need medical help tostop.
I did.
Quitting cold turkey can bedangerous and even deadly.
It's one of the hardest thingsyou'll ever do.
But, for the sake of your life,ask for help if you need it.

(08:49):
There are programs like AA andCelebrate Recovery that can
offer immediate support.
There are rehabs and treatmentcenters to help.
There is prayer and a fatherjust waiting to step in and wrap
you up in his arms.
If you're ready to recover, I'mso proud of you.
You will never for one singleday for the rest of your life,

(09:12):
regret it, not one.
You will look back and thinkwhy did I wait so long?
You will have a dividing linein your life the before and the
after.
There's nothing we can do aboutthe before.
It is what it is, but the aftercan happen today.

(09:33):
You can draw that line in yourlife now and start living your
after.
This very second.
Is recovery hard work?
Yes, it is, especially at thebeginning.
There's no magic pill.
There's no way except throughit.
Can you do it?

(09:53):
Yes, you can.
Every single person listeningto this can do it, no exceptions
.
You can.
If you will, I have a resourcespage on the website that might
help with some initial steps.
If you're part of a church,reach out to someone there, your
pastor or an elder.
Don't be too ashamed to ask forhelp.

(10:17):
I know that is a hard one.
There's so much shame wrappedtightly around addiction.
It smothers us.
But don't let that stop you.
Swallow your pride and fear andask for help.
Ask a friend you trust.
People want to help.

(10:38):
There are so many people whowant to help you on this journey
.
You just need to connect withthem.
During the worst of my act ofaddiction, there was a woman in
my church that obviously hadanorexia.
I remember looking at her andfeeling so sad for her.
Her addiction showed in obviousways and I felt sorry for her.

(11:00):
I could see she wasn't well.
We moved to another town, but Inever forgot her and after I
got into recovery I looked herup to see how she was doing.
And she had died.
That beautiful young soul haddied.
Her addiction had won.

(11:22):
And I still think about her.
I think about her sitting inthe pew every Sunday, actively
dying, and no one helped her.
I mean, maybe they tried andshe wouldn't let them, but still
, I don't know her story.
But I do know she's gone andshe shouldn't be.
You shouldn't be so, please.

(11:44):
If you know you have a problem,reach out to someone.
If you can't do it locally,reach out to me.
You can email me through thecontact form on the website at
holyrecoverycom, or email medirectly at Suzanne with an
S-S-U-S-A-N-N-E atholyrecoverycom.

(12:06):
Don't let the addiction win.
There is a glorious, happy,healthy life waiting for you.
You just have to take the firststep towards it.
So come on, take that step.
You are worth it and we needyou here.
I am so endlessly grateful thatGod had me call a friend in the

(12:28):
middle of a blackout and tellher I had a problem.
I don't remember doing it.
I don't know why I even pickedthat particular friend.
She was someone I used to go tochurch with and I wasn't really
in that close of contact withher anymore, but God knew who to
pick.
I have no idea what I even saidto her.

(12:49):
God had been telling me foryears to quit and I wouldn't, so
he stepped in and started theprocess for me.
I'm still amazed by that.
It changed my life.
That friend came to my house andsat with me all night.
When I came out of the blackout, she was sitting on my bed and

(13:11):
we were reading the Bible and Ithought what is going on?
What is going on?
Then the next morning, herecomes another friend, a friend
who had been sitting in churchlistening to the sermon when the
Holy Spirit told her to leaveimmediately and come to my house

(13:33):
because I was in trouble.
And she did and I was.
She called her husband, whocalled my doctor, who was a
friend of mine.
They called my husband, who wason a business trip across the
world at the time, and Isuddenly had a lot of unwanted
and unasked for help.

(13:54):
People started showing upoffering help.
My secret problem was no longersecret and I could not go back
to the way it was and, honestly,I was so tired and exhausted
with it all by that time Ididn't really want to.
My recovery date is September11th 2016.

(14:16):
The day that changed my lifecompletely, the line in my life
the day that God delivered me.
He will do the same for you.
If you're in trouble, today'sthe day to ask for help.
I'll be cheering you on everystep of the way.

(14:39):
I'll see you next time.
Thank you so much for listeningto today's episode of Holy
Recovery.
If you enjoyed it, I would loveif you would take a moment to
review, rate and subscribe.
Wherever you listen to yourpodcasts.
That helps others find the showand I really appreciate it.

(14:59):
I'll be continuing theconversation over on our socials
, so come join me.
Links are in the show notes.
Thanks again for being part ofour community here.
It means the world to me.
I'll see you next time.