The worst you know

You go to work, you pay what you owe. Next to the worst you know, you always come out fine. There is a more honest measure.

By the apex/rtisi online team · 25 October 2026

You’re right. You’re not like them.

You go to work every morning. You pay what you owe. Nobody has complained.

It might be the drink every evening, to close the day. The cocaine on Saturday. The bet on your lunch break. The cannabis to help you sleep. From the outside, nothing shows.

And when the thought crosses your mind, the answer is ready. You know someone much worse. The colleague who lost his job. The cousin who owes everyone money. The acquaintance who once had to be picked up off the street. Next to them, you are doing fine. Maybe you are. But the comparison doesn’t prove it.

A comparison you always win

Comparing yourself with the worst is the easiest way to come out fine. There is always someone further down. And the line moves with you.

Maybe you once said “never before work”. Then “never alone”. Then “never with the household money”. Each time you cross a line, you draw a new one, a little lower. The worst you know always stays one step below you.

The comparison has a hidden gain too. It spares you a question you would rather not ask. While you look at him, you are not looking at yourself. And his side shows, while yours doesn’t.

It is like judging your own driving by watching the most dangerous driver on the road. Someone always jumps a red light. That says nothing about your brakes. A good driver doesn’t watch the others to see how they are doing. They watch their own speedometer.

What counts when you look from the inside

Many psychiatrists and psychologists work with an American manual. For alcohol and drugs, it lists eleven criteria. Only three concern your work, your home and your people. In other words, what someone could see from the outside.

The other eight concern control, risk and the body. The “I’ll have two” that becomes five. The attempts to cut down that didn’t last. The hours that go on getting it, using it, getting over it. The craving. Needing more and more. The irritability, the shaking or the sleepless nights when it’s missing. Carrying on, even though you know what it does to your sleep or your stomach. Using before you drive, or wherever else it puts you at risk.

Most of these happen inside you, and nobody sees them. How many apply, and what they mean for you, is for a doctor or psychologist to judge with you. For gambling, there are nine criteria. There too, most of them don’t show.

A large American survey looked at people in full-time work. Almost one in ten had a problem with alcohol or drugs, in the years 2008–2012. Working normally proves nothing.

Measure it differently

Take the other person out of the comparison. Leave just you and this. And ask yourself questions that involve no one else. Answer for the last year, not for your best week.

• How many times did you say “not today” and keep to it?
• How much of the day do you spend thinking about it, before its time comes?
• How often do you go further than you meant to?
• Do you now need more to feel the same?
• Do you play again to win back what you lost?
• When did a month last go by without it, without you missing it?

This is not a test. There is no score. The questions put you face to face with yourself, without the worst one standing beside you. Notice which question you avoided answering. That one deserves a second look.

We don’t tell you what you have

We are not telling you that you have a problem. Nobody can know that from an article. We are telling you something simpler. You won’t find out by comparing yourself with the worst you know.

Many people wait for proof from the outside. Losing a job, a big row, a car crash. You don’t need to get there to take a look.

You find out by looking at your own day, honestly. It is easier with someone across from you who doesn’t judge you. Someone who won’t compare you with anyone. And if what you see shows that everything is fine, you will know. Not because someone else is worse.

Your life carries on as normal. That counts. But it doesn’t answer the question.