There are many different forms of help for people with alcoholism. We can break these down into four categories:

• Medical help
• Psychological help
• Social help
• Spiritual help

When you are planning your route to a life free from the disease of alcoholism, you will need to make a judgement about which kinds of help you need, and in which order you get them. Making a good decision about this depends on a number of different factors, and I will help you to make these good decisions in later sections. For the moment, it is vital to make a single, central decision, by answering a question which will set the basic course towards your recovery:

Are you physically addicted to alcohol?

If you are physically addicted to alcohol, then this means two things:

1. At some point you will require a medicated detoxification in order to cease drinking safely.
2. The research evidence shows that you are highly unlikely to ever be able to drink any alcohol again, without relapsing to alcoholic levels of drinking. In other words, your aim should almost definitely be to become tee-total/ abstinent/ permanently dry. (More on this in Chapter Two).