The Ready to Recover Quiz
How Much of Yourself Has Addiction Taken?
Addiction rarely steals our lives all at once.
More often, it happens quietly.
-
A little less confidence.
-
A little less connection to the people we love.
-
A little less clarity about who we are and what matters.
Over time, many people begin to feel like they’ve lost parts of themselves.
This short quiz can help you see more clearly where you are right now.
Your results are completely private and secure.
And you’ll also receive my newsletter.
If the signup form below doesn’t appear here, [as it doesn’t in Duck Duck Go] go into settings and disable protection for this site.
Why is it Hard to Live in Active Addiction?
Most people who struggle with addiction don’t just feel trapped by a substance or behavior.
They often feel like they have slowly become someone they never intended to be.
You may notice things like:
- Your life feels smaller than it once did
- You run on autopilot in too many areas of your life
- Shame has become a quiet background noise
- You no longer trust yourself the way you once did
- You find yourself wondering how you became this version of yourself
- You feel an emptiness that substances temporarily fill
If any of this sounds familiar, you’re not alone.
And there may be more clarity available than you realize.
This Short Quiz Helps You See Where You Are
These 15 questions explore three important areas:
- How addiction may be affecting your relationship with yourself
- Patterns that often keep people stuck in addiction
- Whether something in you may already be ready for change
By the end, you’ll have a clearer understanding of how addiction may be shaping your life — and whether you may be ready to reclaim more of yourself.
This quiz is completely private.
There are no right or wrong answers.
It’s simply an opportunity to reflect honestly on where you are in your life right now.
Most people complete it in less than two minutes.
How Do You Know If You’re Ready to Recover?
Many people assume that being “ready to recover” means reaching a dramatic turning point.
But for most people, readiness doesn’t arrive all at once.
It often begins much more quietly.
You might notice things like:
- You’re starting to question the role addiction plays in your life.
- You feel tired of repeating the same patterns.
- You wonder whether your life could be different than it is right now.
- You feel a growing discomfort with the person you’ve become.
- You catch glimpses of the person you might still be capable of becoming.
These moments of reflection are often the earliest signs that something inside you may be ready for change.
You don’t have to have everything figured out.
You don’t have to know exactly what recovery would look like.
Sometimes readiness begins with something as simple as asking yourself an honest question:
“What kind of life do I really want to live?”
The quiz is designed to help you explore that question.
Who Is Peg O’Connor?
Peg O’Connor, PhD, is a Professor of Philosophy at Gustavus Adolphus College, where she has taught ethics and courses on addiction, trauma, suffering, and human flourishing for more than thirty years.
She is also a recovering alcoholic who believes that philosophy played a crucial role in helping her get sober and stay sober.
Peg is the author of several books on addiction and recovery, including Life on the Rocks, Higher and Friendly Powers, The Sober Philosopher Workbook, and Recovering Character: Overcoming Addiction and Belonging to Yourself. She also writes the popular Psychology Today blog “Philosophy Stirred, Not Shaken.”
Her writing has appeared in outlets such as The New York Times and USA Today, and she has spoken about addiction and recovery in settings ranging from universities to community centers and treatment programs.
Why Peg Created This Quiz
When Peg was still drinking, she often took quizzes to determine whether she had a problem. Even then, she already knew the answer.
But those quizzes never asked the more important question:
Are you ready to change?
There is often a gap between recognizing that something is wrong and feeling ready to recover.
This quiz is designed to help you explore that gap — and better understand where you may be right now.