MovieChat Forums > Smashed (2012) Discussion > She is dead right about the questionnair...

She is dead right about the questionnaires.

posted 7 years ago by sth78
1 reply | jump to latest

She and her BF ridicule the "Are You An Alcoholic"-questionnaires, because they have you pegged as an alcoholic for only answering one or a few of the questions with a Yes. Well, that's how they really are.

It was an important, but easily overlooked point that she made there, because people tend to find it ridiculous that it takes next to no consumption of alcohol to qualify for being an alcoholic according to those questionnaires, and rightly so.

Is there any explanation for why the alcohol assessments are so eager to make people think that they have a problem, rather than to go for accuracy?

[–] fe_faqet 7 years ago

Questionaires like that aren't really meant to be scientifically accurate in the way you're talking about. They're more about getting the addict to reflect on the way they use alcohol. Putting things on paper can help people realize things that they were previously in denial about.

It's like if someone asks you "are you happy?". You'll probably answer "yes" intuitively, but the question still got you thinking somehow. Strange comparison i know, but it's kind of similar.