CHEMICAL DEPENDENCY IMPACT ANALYSIS QUESTIONS

The amount of alcohol and/or drug used?

Prepare a list of the types of alcohol and drugs used, how much, and how often. Start from the first time you used a mood-altering chemical to the present. Include prescribed drugs and the total amounts after each chemical.

Example: 1980 – Beer – 2 times a week/6 each time – total (12 beers) Weekends – 12 pack/Friday and Saturday (24 beers) Vodka – 1 time per week /1/2 pint (1/2 pint)

Effects on finances?

Add up approximate costs on your yearly findings from (1) above. Be sure to include lawyer costs, fines, costs of chemicals, car repairs, getting license back, buying drinks or drugs for others, gasoline, gambling, etc. Include any financial cost due to chemical use. Itemize approximate costs for each example, get a total for each year and get a grand total for your lifetime.

Preoccupation with chemicals?

Preoccupation is occupying your mind or attention on chemicals when you could be or should be concerned with something else. Give specific examples of how drug preoccupation played a part in your mood-altering chemical use. Include, looking forward to the next opportunity to use, planning, hiding, thinking about using on weekends, trips, holidays, weddings, making sure supply of chemicals is available, etc.

Attempts to control use of chemicals

Include in this list attempts at cutting down, switching from one chemical to another, making bets you can quit for a period of time, avoiding people, changing friends, jobs or addresses, not using until a certain time, using bread because you thought you could drink more and not get high, etc.

Effects on work?

Include missing work, arriving late, not being as efficient as you could be, alternating between high bursts of energy in which work gets done and low energy where very little is accomplished. Also, include your performance as a father, mother, student, etc.

In what ways did these roles suffer as a result of chemical use?

Effects on social life and friends?

Prepare a list to show how your mood altering chemical use has affected this area of your life.

Are chemicals involved in all your social activities?

Do friends and family express concern over your drug use?

Do you stay home and use alone or go to the bars by yourself?

Did you become obnoxious or has the use of chemicals affected your reputation/personality/temperament?

Do you associate with people you ordinarily would not because they use as much as you do or they supply you with chemicals?

Any destructive behaviors against oneself or others, insane behaviors, loss of memory and blackouts?

Prepare a list which includes physical fights, being verbally abusive, not being able to remember everything that happened on the night before, having difficulty recalling how you got home after a night’s use, putting yourself or others in dangerous situations, suicide attempts, falling asleep with lit cigarettes, things you ordinarily would not have done if you had not been using chemicals, etc.

Effects on physical/emotional/spiritual life?

Prepare a list which includes the following: Hangovers, cuts, Liver damage, neglected personal appearance, bruises, depression, shakes Or any hospitalizations for any physical or emotional reasons that are either directly related to mood altering chemicals use. Also include feeling alone, having no sense of belonging, loss of job, and/or a change in religious beliefs, etc.

Effects on emotional or feeling life?

Were chemicals used to mask uncomfortable feelings or used to enhance a good time?

Did you feel upright or out of place and used to relax or to feel like you belonged or to build up your confidence?

Did you have a low self-esteem, feelings of confusion or a rigid belief system (Judgmental of others)?

Did you ever use mood-altering chemicals instead of dealing with feelings of anger, boredom, hurt, sadness, guilt, loneliness, happiness, etc.?

Effects on character?

List 15 values (things that were important to you) and give example of how you compromised them (went against them) as a result of your usage.

Effects on family and/or significant others?

Alcoholism/chemical dependency is a family disease. Family members and/or significant others in your life always suffer because of your use.

Exercise: Write out 10 specific examples of how your use affected someone close to you.

Effects on sexuality and sex life?

How has your mood altering chemicals use affected your thoughts and feelings about you?

Remember;

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate; our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure, It is our light, not our darkness that most frighten us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually who are you not to be?

You are a child of God. You playing small doesn’t serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is in us. It is not just in us, it is in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

(Nelson Mandela)