Is AA for you?

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. 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.

1- Have you ever decided to stop drinking for a week or so, but only lasted for a couple of days?

2- Do you wish people would mind their own business about your drinking-- stop telling you what to do?

3- Have you ever switched from one kind of drink to another in the hope that this would keep you from getting drunk?

4- Have you had to have an eye-opener upon awakening during the past year?

5- Do you envy people who can drink without getting into trouble?

6- Have you had problems connected with drinking during the past year?

7- Has your drinking caused trouble at home?

8- Do you ever try to get "extra" drinks at a party because you do not get enough?

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?

10- Have you missed days of work or school because of drinking?

11- Do you have "blackouts"?

12- Have you ever felt that your life would be better if you did not drink?

What's your score?

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.

You can find us in the phone directory of your city under "Alcoholics Anonymous" or call us on our help lines.

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