I’m Worried About Someone Else’s Drinking
Sometimes the attraction of a drug is not mainly the drug. It is the temporary change in how you feel.
Sometimes the attraction of a drug is not mainly the drug. It is the temporary change in how you feel.
A stimulant may make you feel confident or energetic. Cannabis may feel like a way to switch off. Another drug may create distance from grief, fear, loneliness or memories you do not want to sit with.
That can make changing drug use difficult because stopping means meeting the original feeling again.
Ask what changes after you use
Try to identify the effect you are seeking.
Do you want more confidence around people? Relief from racing thoughts? Energy to keep going? Sleep? Emotional numbness? Escape from boredom?
This is different from asking only what substance you use. It begins to explain why that substance has become useful to you.
Then look at what happens later
The immediate effect and the overall effect may be very different.
A drug that briefly reduces anxiety may later leave you more anxious. A stimulant used for confidence can be followed by exhaustion, agitation or low mood. Drug use may also create money, relationship or work problems that add new stress to the original problem.
Look at the whole cycle, not only the hours when the drug appears to work.
Do not assume every mental-health symptom is ‘just the drugs’
Drug use and mental health can interact in complicated ways.
Some symptoms may be triggered or worsened by substances. Some may have existed beforehand. Sometimes both need attention.
NICE guidance recognises that people using cannabis or stimulants can also need evidence-based treatment for anxiety or depression. If you are experiencing persistent or significant mental-health difficulties, tell the professionals supporting you about both sides of the picture.
Build another response to the trigger
If you always use after a particular trigger, plan for the trigger rather than waiting for craving to make the decision.
That might mean leaving a high-risk situation, contacting somebody, changing the route home, arranging an activity for the time you normally use or getting practical help with the underlying pressure.
The alternative needs to fit the job the drug was doing. A generic distraction may not be enough if the real issue is trauma, severe anxiety, debt or isolation.
Professional help does not have to be judgemental
NICE says people who misuse drugs should receive the same care, respect and privacy as anyone else. Recommended brief interventions explore ambivalence and motivation using non-judgemental feedback.
You are allowed to say: “Part of me wants to stop and part of me still wants what the drug does for me.”
That ambivalence is something treatment can work with, not a reason to exclude you.
Treat the life problem as well as the drug problem
If drugs have become a way of surviving something else, recovery may need more than removing the substance.
Mental-health treatment, counselling, housing help, financial advice, relationship support or changes at work may all be relevant.
NICE specifically recognises housing, employment, personal finance and healthcare as parts of recovery and reintegration.
Last reviewed
6 September 2026
Important informationThis guide provides general information only and is not medical advice, a diagnosis or a substitute for professional healthcare or drug-treatment advice. Street drugs can vary in strength and content, and risks can change when substances are mixed with alcohol, medicines or other drugs. If you are worried about your drug use, withdrawal, physical health or mental health, seek advice from a GP, local drug-treatment service or another appropriately qualified healthcare professional.