• Do you sometimes get high or drunk even if you don't want to?
• Are you using/drinking more than you ever thought you would?
• Have you tried to quit or cut down at least once?
• Are friends/family/lovers complaining about your use?
• Do you miss work or show up late on a regular basis? Is your performance at work or school poor?
• Do you miss paying bills? Are your finances out of control?
• Do you feel more paranoid or depressed than you did before you started using/drinking?
• Have you ever been arrested? Have you ever been busted for driving drunk?
• Do you skip appointments so that you won't have to take a drug test?
• Are you fucking without condoms or feeling shame about your sexual behavior?

If you answer "yes" to two or more of these questions, you might have a problem with drugs and/or alcohol.

What do you do next? What does "getting help" mean? What is treatment like? Basically, treatment does three things:

• Gets you out of your regular drug/alcohol routine and away from things that might trigger you.
• Helps you understand the biological, psychological and emotional issues behind your drug use/drinking.
• Teaches you new strategies and skills to handle craving and prevent relapse.

There are all sorts of treatment options out there. What type you go into depends on what you think you need in order to deal with your problems. Kicking a drug habit can be hard, but it's possible. Many people do it successfully, even if they have setbacks along the way. A "relapse" doesn't mean that you've failed; it's a normal part of the process and not the end of the world.