Getting Out: Finding the Help You Need
Sometimes
if you have only recently started to experience problems due to drug use you
may find yourself believing that something other than your using is responsible
for your problems. It will be hard to see how curtailing your drug use by
drinking less and changing your patterns could remove the difficulties. It
may even be the case that your use over time has developed as a way of self-medicating
or altering the way you feel in response to other situations in your life
or possibly other mental health issues, like trauma, depression, or anxiety.
Or maybe your relationship with a drug has progressed to the point where the
drug is so much a part of your life you can no longer picture life without
the drug. Coming to a decision to stop using a drug is often accompanied by
fear and confusion. Fear that life may be overwhelming or miserable without
the drug. Confusion about what is causing your problems; thinking that if
many of the difficulties and inequity of the world could somehow be eliminated
you would no longer feel a need to use.
If you are someone who has been abusing a drug It may be possible that you could learn to lower the amount and frequency of your use. Check out the links that follow for some ideas or drop by our office. Of course reducing your use may not be possible, let alone desirable, in the case of the many highly addictive substances. Thinking of controlling your habit might not even be practical, heck - it wouldn't even be reasonable if a particular drug is illegal, making its use risky in whatever amount or frequency.
I
you have decided that what you need is to stop doing whatever you've been
doing there is plenty of help available. Two thoughts could possibly make
your decision easier. The first is that your decision does not entail doing
anything, at least to all outward appearances. You are going to stop
doing something that no longer works and may be causing you and those who
care about you a great deal of pain. Secondly, and this may sound corny, this
decision is not an end to life as you know it, but it's a beginning. Many,
and we mean tens of thousands of people who have taken this step before you
will vouch for this. Yes, you will learn to cope differently and perhaps think
differently about things. You will probably discover strengths and and capabilities
you never thought you had. And, though it may not seem so
right now, it will sometime occur to you that it was the best decision you
ever made. Make an appointment to come in, check out some of the resources
below, or follow the other links for more information to help you decide on
your next step.
Resources for Help
| Alcohol & Other Drug Program | (607) 777-4198 | |
| The Addiction Center of Broome County | (607) 723-7308 1-800-771-6402 |
Offers outpatient treatment and assessment services. |
| Alcoholics Anonymous | (607) 722-5983 | Call for meeting times and locations |
| Narcotics Anonymous | (607) 774-4900 | Call for meeting times and locations |
| Al-Anon & Alateen | (607) 722-0889 | Call for meeting times and locations |
| Co-Dependents Anonymous | (607) 687-5620 | |
| Comprehensice Psychiatric Emergency Program (CPEP) | (607) 762-2302 1-800-451-0560 |
24-hour crisis hotline and confidential psychiatric advice. |
| University Counseling Center | (607) 777-2772 | counseling.binghamton.edu |
| Sober Recovery | soberrecovery.com/links/themeindex | |
| About Alcohol | alcoholism.about.com |
