Asking for help is not a sign of weakness

If you have a drinking, smoking or drugs problem, please ask for help- from your family, friends, teachers, anyone. It is not a sign of weakness, asking for help. Instead, it shows how strong you really are from inside. It takes a brave man(or woman) to seek support.

You can find the locations for AA meetings here:

http://www.aagsoindia.org/location.htm

Alternatively, you can call one of these helplines:

• National Addiction Research Centre (NARC), Mumbai
  (022) 65834605
  
  
• T.T. Ranganathan Clinical Research Foundation (TTK Hospital), Chennai
  (044) 24918461 / 2948
  
  
• NIMHANS De-Addiction Centre, Bangalore
  (080) 26995360
  
  
• Hope Trust, Hyderabad
  (040) 23396339 / 23327973
  
  
• National Institute of Behavioural Sciences (NIBS), Kolkata
  (033) 22469662 / 22865203
  
  
• AIIMS De-Addiction Centre, Gurgaon
  (0124) 2788974 / 8

Or, check out these sites. These also have a lot of information:

• http://www.muktangan.org/links.html
  
  
• http://www.gatewayforindia.com/medical/health/drug-rehabilitation.htm
  
  

You know, when I found this information, I thought about how different our lives would have been if I had found it sooner. Then I thought- would I have had the guts to tell him that he needed expert help? You see, I was a bit scared of him. He was much older than me, he was my senior, like an older brother and his friends told me he could have one hell of a temper. He never got angry with me, but still I was damn scared of annoying him. Moreover, if I ever dared bring up the topic of smoking or drinking in his presence, he would give us a look that said that I had crossed some unknown boundary, and I would shut up immediately. He wanted to give it up himself, but he didn't like to talk about it.

It is only now that I realize that I shouldn't have shut up, that I should've risked his anger. All of us should have.

Guys, don't make the mistake we made.Trust me, you don't wanna go about feeling somehow responsible for your best mate's death, or ruin.

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please help......

How many friends have to die before you do something to stop the monster? Everyday so many new kids get introduced to alcohol, drugs, cigarettes; how many of them have to die before you would open your eyes? Would it have to become an epidemic before you do something about it?

We never think we’re susceptible, do we? It’s others who fall victim to such things; but we and our loved ones and our friends are within this impregnable fortress that death can’t penetrate. And anyways, the harmful effects of alcohol, drugs ‘n all are all long term, right? They can’t hurt you immediately, can they? Reality check dude- even right now someone you love, maybe your own kid brother or sister, may be contemplating his or her first glass of liquor. And no, the effects are not necessarily long term. An overdose of heroine, a drunken-driving accident, lung cancer, they cause death pretty fast.

Please, and this is a really very sincere request, speak out against alcoholism. Tell your parents, your kids, your siblings, your friends. Tell them to just say ‘No thanks’. Tell them it’s not cool to drink. Tell them it makes you worry when they drink. Tell them you love them. Tell them you don’t, ever, wanna have to miss them.

If they are willing, tell them to go to an AA meeting (that’s Alcoholics Anonymous). The AA hold their meetings in almost every part of the country, in every country. Here’s a link to their page:

http://www.aagsoindia.org/messages.htm