Many people with alcohol problems find out far too late to avoid some potentially tragic consequences. People with drinking problems lose their jobs, their families, their driving privileges, and even their lives before they get help.
One way to help avoid unnecessary chaos and catastrophe from drinking is to get an alcohol evaluation. Here’s why one might be important, plus who performs an alcohol evaluation when one is deemed necessary.
Why an Alcohol Evaluation?
There are a number of reasons that you should strongly consider having an alcohol evaluation completed. If you’ve been charged with a crime that involved drugs or alcohol, you may not have a choice.
These alcohol evaluations are required by the court system. In addition, poor performance on the job or at school and medical or mental health issues often benefit from an alcohol evaluation.
If you have even the slightest inclination that you’ve got an alcohol problem, getting an evaluation may save you a lot of unnecessary heartaches. Here is some basic information to help you understand what you might expect during an alcohol evaluation.
What is an Alcohol Evaluation?
An alcohol evaluation usually involves various stages. Professional evaluations will begin with a screening phase to determine if there is a problem that needs to be treated. This phase involves a series of questions to assess if an alcohol problem exists and how serious the problem may be.
The screening questions must be answered with full honesty. You cannot be charged with a crime because you answered an alcohol evaluation screening questionnaire honestly. There are questions about frequency, quantity and other circumstances that happen when you drink.
The screening process provides an overview of a potential problem. It will not determine the brevity of your alcohol use. The assessment phase follows this screening stage. An assessment of your alcohol problem needs to be handled by a licensed professional.
Invariably, there are always other symptoms at the root of an alcohol problem. Only a trained professional can determine what these mental health issues are and how serious they have become. This brings us to the question of who can perform an alcohol evaluation so you get valid answers.
Who Performs an Alcohol Evaluation?
An alcohol evaluation can be conducted by just about anyone. However, to be certain, the results are dependable, only the assessment of a professional should be considered. It is too easy to distort the truth to ourselves, or an untrained person. Self-evaluations can be a good place to start, but they require rigorous honesty.
Licensed Professionals
One frequent reason for an alcohol evaluation is a legal charge that involved drugs or alcohol. The judge or presiding official may want a professional assessment before consideration towards sentencing or plea agreements.
Either a licensed state agency or a certified substance abuse counselor conduct these assessments. If you have a private psychiatrist, the court can accept recommendations from them as well.
However, most courts will require an unbiased evaluation from a licensed professional. There are situations where you can find and complete a number of self-evaluations to find out if you may have an alcohol problem.
Self-Assessment
One way to avoid running afoul of legal consequences because of too much drinking is to do a self-assessment. These types of written evaluations or online questionnaires can signal a need for help.
However, alcoholism is a cunning and baffling disease. One of the most inherent attributes of alcoholism is that it will try to convince you that you’re fine. A key sign that will render most self-assessment results useless is when you think abusive drinking is caused by something else.
Each of these alcohol evaluations has one thing in common. You must be honest when answering questions and looking at the results. Anything shy of complete honesty could provide an incorrect conclusion.
You might only have a drinking problem. You may discover that you were simply using poor judgment. However, if you are not completely honest during your evaluation, you could easily continue down a perilous road that often results in tragic consequences.
If you want to continue drinking, that’s your business. If you think you have a problem, ask for help today. Don’t wait for your drinking to take care of itself. If you’re an alcoholic, there isn’t some magical cure to teach you how to drink in moderation. Make the call today at 302-842-2390 because tomorrow may be too late.
