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When does a habit turn into an addiction? Are you worried you won't be able to function without the enjoyable feeling that a particular substance or activity gives you? Ask yourself a few questions to find out.

Contents:

Substance dependence

Below is an example of the kind of questions doctors use to assess whether someone has a substance-related problem and their level of dependency. However, these questions are just the starting point for a more thorough assessment.

Screening questions*

 These questions concern the past 12 months.

Each question is answered 'yes' (1) or 'no' (0). The questions can be used for any substance. In this example we'll use heroin.

1. Did you find you needed more heroin to get the desired effect or that the same amount has had less of an effect?
2. Did you feel sick or unwell when the effects of heroin wore off or did you take more of it or a similar drug to relieve or avoid feeling unwell?
3. Did you use heroin in larger amounts or for a longer period of time than you intended?
4. Would you say that you've had a persistent or strong desire to take heroin?
5. Did you spend a large amount of time obtaining/using or recovering from the effects of heroin?
6. Did you reduce or give up work, recreational or social activities as a result of your heroin use?
7. Did you continue to use heroin despite having physical or psychological problems with it?

Results

If someone says 'yes' to three or more of these seven questions they're likely to be dependent on the substance assessed. It's also important to specify whether there are signs of physiological dependence (this means the person says 'yes' to question 1 or 2.

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Reviewed: 03/2006