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	Gerry Johansen
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

Updated August 18, 2008. ©Smart Choices, Binghamton University Alcohol & Other Drug Program
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