Only you can answer this question.
This may not be an easy thing to do. All through our usage, we told
ourselves, “I can handle it.” Even if this was true in the beginning, it is
not so now. The drugs handled us. We lived to use and used to live. Very
simply, an addict is a person whose life is controlled by drugs.
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.
- Do you ever use alone? Yes No
- Have you ever substituted one drug for another, thinking that one
particular drug was the problem? Yes No
- Have you ever manipulated or lied to a doctor to obtain prescription
drugs? Yes No
- Have you ever stolen drugs or stolen to obtain drugs? Yes No
- Do you regularly use a drug when you wake up or when you go to bed? Yes
No
- Have you ever taken one drug to overcome the effects of another? Yes
No
- Do you avoid people or places that do not approve of you using drugs?
Yes No
- Have you ever used a drug without knowing what it was or what it would
do to you? Yes No
- Has your job or school performance ever suffered from the effects of
your drug use? Yes No
- Have you ever been arrested as a result of using drugs? Yes No
- Have you ever lied about what or how much you use? Yes No
- Do you put the purchase of drugs ahead of your financial
responsibilities? Yes No
- Have you ever tried to stop or control your using? Yes No
- Have you ever been in a jail, hospital, or drug rehabilitation center
because of your using? Yes No
- Does using interfere with your sleeping or eating? Yes No
- Does the thought of running out of drugs terrify you? Yes No
- Do you feel it is impossible for you to live without drugs? Yes No
- Do you ever question your own sanity? Yes No
- Is your drug use making life at home unhappy? Yes No
- Have you ever thought you couldn’t fit in or have a good time without
drugs? Yes No
- Have you ever felt defensive, guilty, or ashamed about your using? Yes
No
- Do you think a lot about drugs? Yes No
- Have you had irrational or indefinable fears? Yes No
- Has using affected your sexual relationships? Yes No
- Have you ever taken drugs you didn’t prefer? Yes No
- Have you ever used drugs because of emotional pain or stress? Yes No
- Have you ever overdosed on any drugs? Yes No
- Do you continue to use despite negative consequences? Yes No
- 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.
When we first read these questions, it was frightening for us to think we
might be addicts. Some of us tried to dismiss these thoughts by saying:
“Oh, those questions don’t make sense;” Or,
“I’m different. I know I take drugs, but I’m not an addict. I have real
emotional/family/job problems;”Or,
“I’m just having a tough time getting it together right now;” Or,
“I’ll be able to stop when I find the right person/get the right job, etc.”
If you are an addict, you must first admit that you have a problem with
drugs before any progress can be made toward recovery. These questions,
when honestly approached, may help to show you how using drugs has made
your life unmanageable. Addiction is a disease which, without recovery,
ends in jails, institutions, and death. Many of us came to Narcotics
Anonymous because drugs had stopped doing what we needed them to do.
Addiction takes our pride, self-esteem, family, loved ones, and even our
desire to live. If you have not reached this point in your addiction, you
don’t have to. We have found that our own private hell was within us. If
you want help, you can find it in the Fellowship of Narcotics Anonymous.
“We were searching for an answer when we reached out and found Narcotics
Anonymous. We came to our first NA meeting in defeat and didn’t know what
to expect. After sitting in a meeting, or several meetings, we began to
feel that people cared and were willing to help. Although our minds told us
that we would never make it, the people in the fellowship gave us hope by
insisting that we could recover. […] Surrounded by fellow addicts, we
realized that we were not alone anymore. Recovery is what happens in our
meetings. Our lives are at stake. We found that by putting recovery first,
the program works. We faced three disturbing realizations:
- We are powerless over addiction and our lives are unmanageable;
- Although we are not responsible for our disease, we are responsible for
our recovery;
- We can no longer blame people, places, and things for our addiction. We
must face our problems and our feelings.
The ultimate weapon for recovery is the recovering addict.”
1 Basic Text, Narcotics Anonymous
This is NA Fellowship-approved literature.
Copyright © 1983, 1988 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc. All
rights reserv
