Addiction, Cravings, and Coping

It may involve:

• alcohol;
• prescription or non-prescription drugs;
• gambling;
• food;
• spending;
• sex or pornography;
• gaming or scrolling;
• work;
• or another behaviour you repeatedly turn toward or cannot easily stop.

You may be worried about yourself.

You may be trying to understand someone you love.

You may not know whether the word addiction fits at all.

You do not need to settle that question before looking at what is happening.

Begin with what brought you here.

If someone:

• cannot be awakened;
• is breathing very slowly, irregularly, or not at all;
• has blue or grey lips or fingertips;
• is having a seizure;
• has collapsed;
• is severely confused or behaving dangerously;
• may have overdosed;
• may harm themselves or someone else;
• or may be experiencing another medical emergency;

Call 911 or your local emergency number now.

If you suspect an opioid overdose, give naloxone if it is available and call emergency services. Stay with the person until help arrives.

Do not assume that someone can simply sleep it off.

For more immediate safety information and crisis options:

For current Canadian information about opioid overdose and naloxone:

You may have noticed:

• using more or more often than you intended;
• repeatedly promising yourself that this time will be different;
• hiding, minimizing, or lying about what is happening;
• spending money needed elsewhere;
• missing work, school, responsibilities, or important moments;
• conflict with people who are concerned;
• needing more to get the same effect;
• feeling restless, distressed, or physically unwell when you stop;
• returning to the behaviour after consequences;
• or organizing more of your life around the next opportunity to use, act, or escape.

You do not have to prove that the problem is severe enough before taking it seriously.

The question is not only how often it happens.

It is also:

• What does it provide?
• What is it costing?
• How much choice remains when the urge appears?
• What happens when you try to stop?
• And what support might make another response possible?

The next section will help you examine an urge that is happening now.

You may be living with:

• broken promises;
• secrecy or missing information;
• unpredictable behaviour;
• financial strain;
• fear about someone’s safety;
• repeated crises;
• conflict about whether a problem exists;
• responsibilities the other person is no longer carrying;
• pressure to rescue, cover for, monitor, or control them;
• or uncertainty about what help should look like.

Understanding why a pattern exists does not require you to accept everything it causes.

You can care about someone and still:

• protect your safety;
• protect children or other vulnerable people;
• refuse to provide money;
• refuse to lie or make excuses for them;
• decline to participate in unsafe situations;
• set limits on what happens in your home;
• and seek support for yourself.

You cannot make another person become ready.

You can become clearer about what belongs to you, what does not, and what you need to do in response.

For guidance on listening, boundaries, and helping without taking over:

If you need local family, addiction, counselling, housing, or community services:

You may simply know that something keeps happening despite your intentions.

Instead of beginning with a label, look at the pattern:

• Is it becoming harder to choose when, whether, or how much?
• Is it taking more time, money, attention, or energy?
• Is it harming your health, safety, work, education, finances, or relationships?
• Are you concealing it?
• Do you rely on it to change how you feel?
• Have you repeatedly tried to reduce or stop?
• Does stopping create physical or emotional distress?
• Has your life become narrower around it?

One answer does not establish a diagnosis.

Together, the answers may show that the pattern deserves attention.

A medical or addiction professional can help assess substance use, physical dependence, withdrawal risk, and treatment options.

 You might say:

• “I want to drink.”
• “I want to use.”
• “I want to gamble.”
• “I want to disappear into this behaviour.”
• “I want relief from what I am feeling.”
• “Part of me wants to stop, and another part wants this right now.”

Naming the conflict is more useful than pretending it is not there.

Ask:

• Am I alone?
• Have I already used alcohol or another substance?
• Am I about to drive?
• Could combining substances increase the danger?
• Is anyone depending on me for their safety?
• Could I overdose?
• Am I thinking about harming myself or someone else?
• Do I need medical help rather than more reflection?

If the situation may be dangerous, use immediate support now.

Ask:

• What happened just before this?
• What am I feeling physically?
• What is my mind saying?
• Am I angry, frightened, ashamed, lonely, exhausted, bored, overwhelmed, or in pain?
• Am I trying to escape a person, memory, responsibility, conflict, or expectation?
• Is this a familiar time, place, or situation for the pattern?

You are not looking for one perfect explanation.

You are looking for what may be participating in the urge.

You do not have to solve the rest of your life in this moment.

Ask: “What would help me remain safe through the next ten minutes?”

That might mean:

• moving away from the substance, money, device, location, or opportunity;
• calling or sitting with someone;
• eating or drinking water;
• taking prescribed medication as directed;
• leaving an escalating situation;
• going somewhere public or safer;
• reducing access to money or transportation;
• contacting a support service;
• or delaying the decision until the intensity changes.

A delay is not a complete solution.

It can create enough room for another choice to become possible.

You do not need to wait until you feel completely certain, fearless, or ready.

A first step might be:

• telling one safe person the truth;
• speaking with a doctor, counsellor, or addiction professional;
• asking about withdrawal before stopping a substance abruptly;
• learning what treatment and harm-reduction options exist;
• obtaining naloxone if opioid exposure is possible;
• avoiding using alone;
• identifying the situations that make the pattern more likely;
• protecting money, transportation, housing, or children from immediate consequences;
• attending one meeting or appointment;
• or asking someone to help you make the first call.

Different people require different forms of support.

Options may include medical care, withdrawal management, counselling, medication, peer support, harm reduction, residential or community treatment, family support, and help with the conditions surrounding the pattern.

Needing support does not mean you have failed to care enough or try hard enough.

It means the pattern may require more capacity than you can reliably access alone.

For Canadian substance-use services, overdose-prevention resources, withdrawal support, and provincial or territorial contacts:

To search for addiction, counselling, financial, housing, food, family, and other services near you: