Moderation is always in good taste
We all need to have fun and relax sometimes, and there’s nothing wrong with enjoying a glass of beer or wine. But it cannot be said too often – moderation is always in good taste – especially where drinking is concerned.
Abusing alcohol is not only harmful to the health, it also leads to poor decision-making and bad judgment of situations. When you’re not seeing things too clearly, you’re more inclined to take risks.
With this in mind, the Montreal General Hospital’s Trauma Program includes the World Health Organization’s Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). By answering a few simple questions about your drinking habits, you will have an idea about your risk level for harmful or hazardous behavior and alcohol use dependency.
There are three degrees of risk that can be identified:[1]
- no risk or slight risk as a result of light alcohol consumption;
- considerable risk as a result of moderate to heavy alcohol consumption;
- major risk as a result of alcohol dependency.
[1] Source: AUDIT Questionnaire prepared under a World Health Organization directive. Original version: Saunders JB, Aasland OG, Babor TF, De la Fuente JR, Grant M. “Development of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT): WHO Collaborative Project on Early Detection of People with Harmful Alcohol Consumption–II.” Addiction, June 1993; vol. 88, no. 6; pages 791 to 804.