This is not an easy question to answer, and it’s different for each person. Here are a couple of questions to ask yourself. Be honest though, only you know exactly what’s truly been going on with your drug use. Does it feel like your daily drug use has “taken over your life”? Do you think about it all the time? Do you make plans to control your using then find it impossible to keep your promises to yourself? Have you already had some negative consequences as a result of your using but you’ve been trying to minimize the importance of the consequence? Have your loved ones or co-workers been telling you they’re worried about you?

If any of this sounds familiar, we have a way for you to help yourself and your family. Reliance Method™ is a proven and affordable form of outpatient addiction treatment designed to get your life back on track, and out of the misery and fear daily life has become.

The Reliance Method™ provides a discreet and comfortable professional medical environment where you will experience confidential, one-on-one attention, allowing you to achieve long term recovery and peace of mind.

Social User

One who uses alcohol and/or drugs simply to enhance the pleasure of normally pleasurable situations. The social user experiences the following:

• No negative consequences
• No surprises or unpredictability
• No loss of control
• No complaints
• No thoughts of or need for limit setting

Substance Abuser

One who uses to enhance pleasure and/or compensate for something negative, such as physical or emotional pain, insecurity, fear, anger, etc. The substance abuser experiences some or all of the following:

• Occasional negative consequences that are not repeated
• Limit setting that is adhered to
• Promises that are made and kept
• Complaints are heard and dealt with

Addict

One who uses to celebrate, compensate, or for any other reason, legitimate or not. The addict experiences some or all of the following:

• Negative consequences are recycled
• Limit setting & promises to self or others are broken
• Complaints are denied and/or not heard

Reliable symptoms of addictive disease become more evident. Reliable symptoms include those listed under the DSM IV definition of addiction and others, expressed as follows:

• Continued use despite negative consequences
• Loss of control, as in more use than planned (broken limits)
• Unpredictability, as in use despite plan not to use (broken promises)
• Compulsivity/preoccupation in thinking
• Denial; Use of defenses to maintain denial
• Build up of (or “break” in) tolerance
• Remorse & guilt about use or behavior when using
• Memory loss, mental confusion, irrational thinking
• Family history of addictive behavior
• Withdrawal discomfort (physical, mental, emotional, and/or psychological)

*The DSM-IV TR is published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and covers all categories of mental health disorders for both adults and children. The manual is non-theoretical and focused mostly on describing symptoms as well as statistics concerning which gender is most affected by the illness, the typical age of onset, the effects of treatment, and common treatment approaches. The DSM-IV is the current edition of the manual and was first published in 1994. This edition presents nearly 400 disorders. In June 2000, a text revision was published bringing it up to date with current statistics as well as the latest findings in research.