If you are addicted, maybe you want to stop using, but find you cannot do so for any significant period of time. Perhaps you have stopped for a while, but stopping feels worse than using. Maybe you have chosen, reluctantly, or even gratefully, to return to your substance use or addictive behaviour, regardless of the difficulty it causes you, because of the temporary relief it provides.

Addiction leads to significant problems in a person’s life. And the using and its consequences get worse over time. Perhaps your relationships are suffering. Maybe you have lost your job, or are finding it very hard to perform at work. Is your health being affected? Do you experience blackouts, where you have gaps in your memory? Does your addiction cause you money problems? Or legal problems? Have you ended up in danger, in hospital or in a prison cell after just nipping out for what you thought would be a quick play of the pokies or a fun evening out?

There are many things to which people can be addicted. Are you are experiencing problems with any of the following?