Call 999 or go to your nearest A&E immediately. Tell medical staff about any substance use — they need to know to help you.
Stepwise Recovery is an independent publisher. Everything on this website and in our guides — the articles, the stories, the assessments, the resources — is published to inform, encourage and support you. It draws on lived experience of recovery and on published research, and we work hard to make it accurate.
It is not medical advice. Reading our content does not create a clinical relationship between you and anyone at Stepwise, and nothing we publish is a diagnosis, a treatment plan, or a recommendation for your individual situation. Addiction affects every body and every life differently: what helped the people in our pages may not be what your health needs.
Please use what we publish alongside — never instead of — the advice of the professionals who know your circumstances.
This section is critical information about how to use our self-assessment tools safely and appropriately.
We check our facts. Statistics on this site are verified against primary sources and listed on our Sources & Citations page, helpline details are checked with the providers, and we treat correcting errors as a priority.
Even so, research moves on, services change their hours, and mistakes can happen. We cannot promise that every page is complete, current or error-free at the moment you read it — and recovery itself never follows a single pattern, so approaches that helped one person may work differently, or not at all, for another.
If you spot something wrong, please tell us at [email protected] and we will put it right.
Your GP, keyworker, pharmacist or mental-health team should always be your first source of guidance about your health. If anything you read here seems to conflict with what they have told you, follow their advice and raise the question with them.
Never delay getting medical help, ignore advice you have been given, or stop a prescribed medicine because of something you read on this website or in our guides.
A warning that matters in recovery: stopping some substances suddenly can be dangerous. Withdrawal from alcohol, benzodiazepines and GHB/GBL in particular can cause seizures and other life-threatening complications, and coming off opioids, ketamine and other substances is also safest with support. If you are ready to stop, that decision deserves medical backup — speak to your GP or local drug and alcohol service first and plan it together.
Our resources may reference experiences of active addiction, which some readers may find distressing. Our content may include descriptions of:
Reader discretion is advised. We encourage all readers to engage with our content at their own pace and seek professional support when needed.
Our self-assessments, contact forms and email replies can only ever offer general information. Any response you receive from us is written without access to your medical history and is not tailored clinical advice.
Before acting on anything important to your health that you learn through this website, confirm it with a qualified professional who knows your situation.
We publish in good faith, and we take the reliability of recovery information seriously — for our readers, accuracy is a safety issue, and we treat it as one.
At the same time, our guides and this website are publications, not healthcare. To the fullest extent the law allows, Stepwise Recovery Ltd accepts no liability for loss or damage arising from relying on this website or our publications in place of professional care. Nothing in this notice excludes or limits any liability that cannot lawfully be excluded — including liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or for fraud — and nothing in it affects your statutory rights as a consumer.
Recovery is possible. Ours is a voice of encouragement along the way — please build your recovery with professional support around you.
Reaching out for help is a sign of strength. There are people and services ready to support you.
Your GP
Your first port of call for substance use concerns. Your GP can provide assessment, treatment options, and referrals to specialist services.
Frank (0300 123 6600)
Free, confidential drug advice and information. Available 24/7. You can also text or email for advice.
NHS Substance Use Services
Can be accessed through your GP or by self-referral. These services are free and confidential.
Samaritans (116 123)
If you’re struggling emotionally or in crisis. Available 24/7. You can talk about anything.
SHOUT (Text 85258)
Crisis text support available 24/7. Text SHOUT to 85258 if you’re in a crisis or having difficult feelings.
Talk to Someone You Trust
A friend, family member, colleague, or counsellor. Reaching out is the first step, and you don’t have to go through this alone.
Free, 24/7, no judgement
Free drug advice, 24/7
Peer support, 10am–midnight
Free text support (UK)
