There is no test that will definitively tell you whether or not someone is an “alcoholic”. There are medical tests that can tell you if a person is drinking heavily – notably a CDT test – but nothing that can diagnose alcoholism.
Alcoholism, in the common usage of the term, is used to describe a situation where someone is addicted to the consumption of alcoholic beverages.
The term ‘alcoholic’ or ‘alcoholism’ is not used by Doctors or health professionals, and people in recovery often prefer not to use it.
Medically the term Alcohol Use Disorder is used and is characterized as being an “impaired ability to stop or control alcohol use despite adverse personal, career or health consequences”.
One of the ways AUD is diagnosed is the completion of a self-evaluation to determine ‘problem drinking’. This usually consists of a number of questions that make the subject reflect on their alcohol use and determine whether changes need to be made. You can check out an example of the questions in this post “Do I Have A Drinking Problem“.
What alcohol screening tests are actually used?
One widely used questionnaire is the World Health Organization’s Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). It has ten questions covering how often and how much you drink, whether you have difficulty controlling it and whether alcohol has caused problems in your life. A shorter version, AUDIT-C, focuses on drinking habits and can indicate whether a fuller assessment would be useful.
A screening result is not a diagnosis on its own. The point is to identify potential risks and guide a conversation, not to decide whether someone deserves the label ‘alcoholic’. A healthcare professional may ask more about things like cravings, unsuccessful attempts to cut down, drinking despite consequences and symptoms when alcohol wears off.
Can a blood test diagnose alcohol use disorder?
No single blood test can do that. CDT, mentioned above, is one marker sometimes used to look for patterns of heavier drinking. Others include GGT and PEth. These tests measure different things: some provide clues about alcohol exposure, while others can help investigate possible effects on health. Normal results do not automatically rule out a drinking problem, and an abnormal result needs interpreting in context.
That is why a proper assessment combines questions about your drinking and symptoms with any tests that are relevant. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism explains the uses and limitations of these markers.
How do you ask for an assessment?
You can talk to a doctor or qualified alcohol support service. It helps to know roughly what you drink in a typical week, whether you ever drink more than you intended, whether you have tried to cut down and whether alcohol is affecting your health, work or relationships. Be especially clear if you get shakes, sweating or other symptoms when you go without alcohol, because that may affect what help is appropriate.
You do not need to be certain that you have alcohol use disorder before asking the question. If you are worried about your drinking, that is reason enough to discuss it. Our how-to-quit-drinking guide is also there if you are ready to consider the next step.
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