Detox Recovery

Perhaps you admit you have a problem with drugs, but you don’t consider yourself an addict.

All of us have preconceived ideas about what an addict is. There is nothing shameful about being

an addict once you begin to take positive action. If you can identify with our problems, you may

be able to identify with our solution. The following questions were written by recovering addicts

in Narcotics Anonymous. If you have doubts about whether or not you’re an addict, take a few

moments to read the questions below and answer them as honestly as you can.

1. Do you ever use alone? Yes ? No ?

2. Have you ever substituted one drug for another, thinking that

one particular drug was the problem? Yes ? No ?

3. Have you ever manipulated or lied to a doctor

to obtain prescription drugs? Yes ? No ?

4. Have you ever stolen drugs or stolen to obtain drugs? Yes ? No ?

5. Do you regularly use a drug when you wake up or when you go to bed? Yes ? No ?

6. Have you ever taken one drug to overcome the effects of another? Yes ? No ?

7. Do you avoid people or places that do not approve of you using drugs? Yes ? No ?

8. Have you ever used a drug without knowing what it was?

or what it would do to you? Yes ? No ?

9. Has your job or school performance ever suffered

from the effects of your drug use? Yes ? No ?

10. Have you ever been arrested as a result of using drugs? Yes ? No ?

11. Have you ever lied about what or how much you use? Yes ? No ?

12. Do you put the purchase of drugs ahead of

your financial responsibilities? Yes ? No ?

13. Have you ever tried to stop or control your using? Yes ? No ?

14. Have you ever been in a jail, hospital,

or drug rehabilitation center because of your using? Yes ? No ?

15. Does using interfere with your sleeping or eating? Yes ? No ?

16. Does the thought of running out of drugs terrify you? Yes ? No ?

17. Do you feel it is impossible for you to live without drugs? Yes ? No ?

18. Do you ever question your own sanity? Yes ? No ?

19. Is your drug use making life at home unhappy? Yes ? No ?

20. Have you ever thought you couldn’t fit in or have a good time

without drugs? Yes ? No ?

21. Have you ever felt defensive, guilty, or ashamed about your using? Yes ? No ?

22. Do you think a lot about drugs? Yes ? No ?

23. Have you had irrational or indefinable fears? Yes ? No ?

24. Has using affected your sexual relationships? Yes ? No ?

25. Have you ever taken drugs you didn’t prefer? Yes ? No ?

26. Have you ever used drugs because of emotional pain or stress? Yes ? No?

27. Have you ever overdosed on any drugs? Yes ? No ?

28. Do you continue to use despite negative consequences? Yes ? No ?

29. Do you think you might have a drug problem? Yes ? No ?

“Am I an addict?” This is a question only you can answer. We found that we all answered

different numbers of these questions “Yes.” The actual number of “Yes” responses wasn’t as

important as how we felt inside and how addiction had affected our lives.

Some of these questions don’t even mention drugs. This is because addiction is an insidious

disease that affects all areas of our lives—even those areas which seem at first to have little to do

with drugs. The different drugs we used were not as important as why we used them and what

they did to us.