The drinking or the drugs are rarely the whole story.

Most people who struggle with alcohol or drugs aren't weak, and they don't lack willpower. They're using something to cope with a feeling, a memory, a pressure, or a pain that hasn't had anywhere else to go.

That's the part that matters most, and it's worth saying clearly before you go any further. The substance is the symptom. It's where the struggle shows up. But it's almost never where the struggle started. Underneath the drinking or the drug use there's usually something the substance has been quietly managing: anxiety, trauma, loneliness, grief, a way of switching off a mind that won't rest.

That's not a reason to ignore the use itself. How much and how often you use is genuinely worth looking at honestly, and that's what the self-check below helps you do. But it's a starting point for understanding, not a verdict on who you are. Real change tends to come from getting curious about the cause, with the right support, rather than just white-knuckling the symptom.

So take the self-check as a gentle first look. Whatever it shows, it's information, not judgement. And whatever's underneath it, you don't have to work that out alone.