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SYMPTOM CHECKLIST: SELF ASSESSMENT FOR ADDICTIVE DISORDERS

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Everyone has addictive urges and sometimes gives in to them. An addictive disorder exists, however, when you cannot control your habit or behavior despite the fact that it is undermining your health, your relationships, your work, your finances, or your self-respect.

Common addictive disorders include:

• compulsive overeating
• alcohol or drug dependency
• compulsive gambling
• smoking
• compulsive spending
• sexual addiction

Signs of possible addiction

If one of these behaviors has gotten out of control for you (or a family member), review the symptom checklist below to recognize if your behavior has become an addictive disorder. A "yes" answer to one or more statements below may indicate a problem:

1. The person thinks about the activity a lot when they're not doing it.
2. The person seems unable to control the amount of time spent doing the activity.
3. The person keeps increasing the amount of time that is spent doing the activity.
4. The person denies having a problem, when many things are obviously going wrong.
5. The person hides the activity from family and friends.
6. When unable to do the activity, the person becomes irritable, moody, tearful, angry, or hostile.
7. The person would rather do the activity than spend time with a family member or friend.
8. The person forgets or ignores family events such as birthdays and visits from friends because of his or her involvement with the activity.
9. The person has extreme mood swings that are completely unpredictable.
10. The person blames other people for his/her troubles and does not take responsibility for his/her own actions.
11. The person has headaches, stomach disorders, and other unexplained and ongoing physical symptoms.
12. The person begins to neglect his/her appearance and to do hurtful or illegal things.

What to do

Whether you have reached the "addiction" stage or not, recognizing and admitting that your habit is negatively impacting your life is the first step toward overcoming it. You can build the strength to overcome your addiction, develop alternatives to it, and learn to live a healthy and full life.