Addiction & Eating Disorders - Resources
Telephone Helplines
Vet Helpline - 07659 8111188
Addictions and addictive behaviour have consequences for the entire practice as well as the family of the person suffering.
The Vet Helpline offers an empathic listening service and can tell you how to get more specialist help if necessary (local call rates apply, 24hr rapid response answer phone).
Veterinary Surgeons' Health Support Program – 07946 634220
The Veterinary Surgeons’ Health Support Programme is available to provide completely confidential professional help with alcohol, drug, addiction & mental health issues. They are available to offer help and advice not only to sufferers themselves but to their families and colleagues.
Mind – 0845 766 0163
The U.K.'s leading mental health charity
Saneline – 0845 767 800
Aims to explore the options available to help you move forward in your situation and make informed choices – available for any mental health issue including addiction (6pm to 11pm every day) .
Drinkline – 0800 917 8282
This national helpline can supply you with:
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Information and self-help materials
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Help to callers worried about their own drinking
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Support to the family and friends of people who are drinking
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Advice to callers on where to go for help
Drinkline is confidential and no names need be given. Callers to the helpline number have the option of listening to recorded information about alcohol or talking to an adviser. Best time to telephone: 9am - 11pm, Mon-Fri
National Drugs Helpline – 0800 776600
An independent government funded organisation which offers telephone and e-mail contact as well as a lot of information – not only for users but for family and friends.
Gamcare – 0845 6000 133
Telephone, online and counselling support, information and advice to anyone suffering through a gambling problem (see below for web links).
UK Insolvency Helpline – 020 7384 3040
Beating Eating Disorders (B-eat) Helpline –0845 634 1414
Alcoholics Anonymous – 0845 769 7555
See under 12-step programs below for details.
Al-Anon – 020 7403 0888
See under 12-step programs below for details.
Narcotics Anonymous – 0300 999 1212
See under 12-step programs below for details.
Cocaine Anonymous – 0800 612 0225
See under 12-step programs below for details.
Gamblers Anonymous – 07930 557887
See under 12-step programs below for details.
Overeaters Anonymous – 07000 784 985
See under 12-step programs below for details.
Families Anonymous – 0845 1200 660
See under 12-step programs below for details.
See also:-
Stress, Anxiety & Depression
Sickness & Disability Rights
Vets & Debt
Websites for Help with Addiction
MIND
MIND is the U.K.'s leading mental health charity.
The link Addiction and dependency will take you straight to Mind's pages on this topic.
Click here for the Mind home page
Sane
Sane works to raise mental health awareness, combat stigma and increase understanding. It also aims to provide emotional support, practical help & information.
Email service aimed at 16-25 year olds: sanemail@sane.org.uk
SMART Recovery UK
A new approach for the UK – abstinence oriented and meeting based mutual support for recovering addicts – based on a number of pooled scientific approaches including CBT rather than the more spiritual base of the 12-step programs.
Wired In To Recovery
A forum for people to share their experiences, ask for support. It can all be done anonymously under a pseudonym. A very popular site.
The most recent government drug strategy
HM government drug strategy 2010
This is the most recent drug strategy from the government – it is what all Local Authorities have to commission services in line with. It places and emphasis on Recovery and on the importance of mutual aid – the recovery part is the most interesting.
Action on Addiction
A national charity with treatment centres throughout England – a very comprehensive website.
Alcohol Concern
A national agency on alcohol misuse – again, a very comprehensive website. Provides factsheets, publications and an online library database.
National Drugs Helpline
National drugs helpline home page – an independent government funded website which offers telephone and e-mail contact as well as a lot of information – not only for users but for family and friends. Not just a helpline but lots of information (see above for the phone number).
DrugScope
DrugsScope home page – the leading independent centre of expertise on drugs and drug use – this is an independent charity. Again a very comprehensive website.
Gamcare
Gamcare provides support, advice and counselling including an on-line chat/support forum to people affected by gambling problems
Money Advice Direct (Bankruptcy-Insolvency)
Bankruptcy-Insolvency home page
Money Advice Direct is a UK based personal and business debt consultancy offering advice to consumers and businesses on financial problems. The dedicated aim of the service is to provide clients with a caring, professional hands on approach to financial problems with the ability to identify and resolve problems at an early stage
Bankruptcy-Insolvency Gambling Support Information Centre
TheSite.org – Gambling Debt
Advice website for young people – click below for their page on gambling debt
TheSite.org guidance for young adults on gambling addiction
B-eat (Beat Eating Disorders)
B-eat's vision is that eating disorders will be beaten. Their aims are:
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to change the way everyone thinks and talks about eating disorders
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to improve the way services and treatment are provided
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to help anyone believe that their eating disorder can be beaten
Adfam
Adfam home page
Adfam is a national charity working with families affected by drugs and alcohol and is a leading agency in substance related family work. Lots of publications and resources for families about substances and the law including an online message board and a database of local support groups.
Tel: 020 7553 7640
12 Step Programmes
Wikipedia says: A Twelve-Step Programme is a set of guiding principles outlining a course of action for recovery from addiction, compulsion, or other behavioral problems. Originally proposed by Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) as a method of recovery from alcoholism,[1] the Twelve Steps were first published in the book, Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered From Alcoholism in 1939.[2] The method was then adapted and became the foundation of other twelve-step programmes. As summarized by the American Psychological Association, the process involves the following:[1]
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admitting that one cannot control one's addiction or compulsion;
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recognizing a higher power that can give strength;
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examining past errors with the help of a sponsor (experienced member);
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making amends for these errors;
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learning to live a new life with a new code of behavior;
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helping others who suffer from the same addictions or compulsions.
Follow this link for a list of 12 step groups
Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous home page
Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism.
The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees for A.A. membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions.
Al-Anon
Al-Anon home page
Worldwide 12-step fellowship open to anyone whose life is, or has been, affected by someone else’s drinking. They believe alcoholism is a family illness and that changed attitudes can aid recovery.
Narcotics Anonymous
The NA Helpline is often the first point of contact for people needing support and advice about the nature of drug addiction. Anyone from the using addict, their friends and family members through to drug workers and the press are welcome to call. See above for telephone number.
The helpline is manned by recovering addicts, many of whom called the Helpline themselves at some point and is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but if, for some reason, an answer-phone is reached, callers are asked to leave a message and are later contacted discreetly.
Narcotics Anonymous believes one of the cornerstones of its success is the therapeutic value of addicts working with each other to achieve recovery. In meetings members regularly share their personal experiences with each other, not as professionals but as ordinary people who have discovered that sharing brings about solutions to their problems.
Cocaine Anonymous
Cocaine Anonymous home page – 12-Step program based on Alcoholics Anonymous.
Helpline is answered from 10:00 until 22:00 every day (see above for telephone number).
Gamblers Anonymous
Gamblers Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who have joined together to do something about their own gambling problem and to help other compulsive gamblers do the same.
Overeaters Anonymous
Overeaters Anonymous home page
Overeaters Anonymous is a fellowship of individuals who, through shared experience, strength and hope, are recovering from compulsive overeating. This organisation has the same meeting based support of addicts by addicts ethos as the other 12-step programs.
Families Anonymous
Families Anonymous home page
Worldwide 12-step fellowship of relatives and friends of people involved in the abuse of mind-altering substances, or with related behavioural problems. Many local groups across the UK.
Private Clinics
The names of some clinics that are known to the VSHSP are given here but there is a very broad selection of clinics available and the VSHSP National Co-ordinator is available to discuss your options with you on 07946 634220 or can be emailed at VSHSP@vetlife.org.uk.
If you need residential treatment, and do not want to use the VSHSP, you should contact your GP for a referral. You can also approach a private treatment centre in the UK or abroad directly. Here are some links to the websites of Private clinics in the UK
Research
Alcohol Consumption Among Veterinary Surgeons in the UK - PDF 50 kB
D J Bartram; J M A Sinclair; D S Baldwin