Difficulties experienced by a father in trying to get help for his son who wants to overcome his heroin addiction.

Alison describes her descent into alcoholism and her recovery. "Learning to live clean is good, coz there’s lots of things you think you can’t do but you can."

Talk delivered by a mother at a recent conference entitled Families in Focus.

Cheryl Hancock had become interested in the work her daughter Becky was doing as a member of our team. We asked her if she would like to spend a week in a drug and alcohol treatment agency and write up her experiences for our web site.

David has been receiving injectable diamorphine on prescription for over ten years. He explains how polydrug use and dealing grew to become his driving force. He now leads a 'normal' life, but chooses to stay in touch with drug culture, despite the fact that his offending ceased when he received his first script.

Debbie had tried many drugs by the time she first smoked and developed a strong habit for heroin at the age of 16. She describes the positive and negative effects of heroin, and her terrible withdrawal experiences. She tells us of a life spent with, and then without, heroin.

Natalie talks about her addiction to heroin. She describes her childhood and the development of her polydrug use. She starts to smoke heroin at the age of 21 and over the next 18 months the drug takes over her life. Natalie describes the impact of constantly smoking heroin on herself and her family. A situation is reached where her father, boyfriend and most of her friends are using heroin. Her mother gives her an ultimatum - Natalie decides she must quit.

Natalie visits a treatment agency for her heroin addiction. She describes how she stopped smoking heroin and how, with the help of others, she has stayed away from drugs and repaired the damage they caused. Natalie is a much stronger and happier person. She has been clean and sober for two years.

We show how two newspapers in the UK have conveyed the experiences of those that have developed drug and alcohol problems. Links to a number of original newspaper articles are provided.

Leah - not her real name - was 11 when she started using heroin. Now 16 and on a methadone programme, she is living in supported accommodation in Dumfriesshire. She has been electronically tagged and is under curfew [Guardian, UK]

Life with a drunk can be hell, as George Best's wife, Alex, knows to her cost. Increasingly these days, though, it's the woman who's the alcoholic. Here one long-suffering husband tells his story [Observer, UK]

Tham Krabok monastery in Thailand runs the toughest drug rehabilitation regime in the world. And it might soon be available on the NHS. Ian Belcher joins one addict in search of salvation [Guardian, UK]

This time 11 years ago, Adams was serving 58 days in Chelmsford Prison for drink-driving. Now, more than five years sober in his recovery from alcoholism, the Arsenal and former England captain sometimes returns to jails to talk to any inmate who wants to hear about his experience, strength and hope  [Observer]

Arthur Smith relives the moment when he was forced to give up the booze or die [Guardian]

Julie and Ian Gell had no one left to turn to, so they had to break the law, pay the dealers and undertake DIY rehab for their addicted son. Tracy McVeigh reports on the plight of the families who must fend for themselves [Observer]

With his career now in full flow, Billy Connolly is growing apart from his first wife and developing an addiction to drink and drugs. Our second extract from Pamela Stephenson's candid biography of her husband reveals how Connolly coped with fame - and she ended up in bed with the Hairy One [Observer]

Andy Mayer knew his relationship with alcohol was rather too close for comfort, but it was years before he finally accepted help. Then he tried it all - the NHS, the Priory, Alcoholics Anonymous. So what worked? [Guardian]

There is just one problem: he is an alcoholic, and his life is spiralling out of control. In the first of two extracts from his remarkably frank new book, the man who went on to become professor of English at University College London describes his descent to an all-time low [Guardian]

He had reached rock bottom - now the drinking had to stop. But it's not easy for a hardened addict to quit and he needed help. In the second extract from his remarkably honest new book, John Sutherland enters the weird and wonderful world of Californian Alcoholics Anonymous [Guardian]