If you think that you, or someone you know, might have an alcohol or drug related problem then there are groups and organisations out there to give you a helping hand.
Derbyshire treatment and recovery services supported over 4,000 people last year, so you are not alone.
Making the decision to pick up the phone or speak to someone might seem impossible right now, but there's lots of support and confidential services waiting to help you.
Lower My Drinking
Lower My Drinking is our free, commissioned app, that will give you the expert advice and scientifically-proven tools you need to reduce your drinking to the recommended limit of 14 units a week or less.
Lower My Drinking will guide you to set your drinking goal. Then it will help you achieve this by guiding you to:
- track your progress towards your drinking goal
- recognise all the gains you will make by cutting down
- focus on what is really motivating you to reduce your drinking
- see how your drinking compares to the rest of the population
As well as this, Lower My Drinking will show you the issues that could potentially cause you to drink more than is healthy for you and give you a set of proven skills you can use to address these.
You can download Lower My Drinking for Apple and Android.
Treatment and support services
Drug and alcohol services for adults in Derbyshire are integrated.
These are provided by Derbyshire Recovery Partnership which is a partnership between 4 organisations - Derbyshire Healthcare Foundation Trust, Phoenix Futures, DAAS and Intuitive Thinking Skills.
Derbyshire Recovery Partnership offers a mix of high and low intensity levels of support together with a specialist prescribing programme.
The service works with all levels of drug and alcohol misuse, as well as supporting people affected by another person's drug use such as family, friends and carers.
You can refer yourself into the service tel: 01246 206514 or 0845 308 40 10. Appointments are available across the county.
Young people's substance misuse
We make sure that services are available to help young people who may have an alcohol or substance misuse problem.
We work with Derbyshire CGL, a targeted and specialist substance misuse service for young people up to and including 18-years-old who are using drugs or alcohol who feel they have a problem and want some support. This can be done through one-to-one sessions or group work.
Derbyshire CGL also offers targeted and specialist help to reduce the risks and harm associated with alcohol or drug misuse, as well as to help young people wanting to reduce or stop their substance use or avoid relapsing.
The service works with children, young people and their families or carers. It provides support and helps them to build resilience to enable sustainable recovery and prevent further use and harm.
email: derbyshire@cgl.org.uk
Tel: 01773 303646.
Derby and Derbyshire local drug information system
Do we ever really know what is in an illicit substance? Whether it's a fake tablet, white powder or dodgy vape, unregulated products can vary by strength and substance. Taking any illicit drug can be risky but when it turns out to be something different to what was expected there can be devastating consequences. People can become ill, hospitalised, and even die.
Sharing warnings about such drugs can often feel like a good thing to do but experience tells us that these messages can cause problems and can even advertise the substances they seek to warn about.
Following national guidance, Derby and Derbyshire Drug Alert Group have established a local drug information system (LDIS) which is designed to receive information about concerning substances, assess and grade risks, and, if needed, issue alerts to people who use drugs, and the organisations who come into contact with them.
A panel of local health, education, and law enforcement specialists will review information and, only when harm can be reduced, will they issue an alert. The alert will include the Derby and Derbyshire Drug Alert Group logo, giving reassurance that this information is relevant to the current local situation.
If you have a concern about a substance and want to make sure this is considered by the Derby and Derbyshire Drug Alert Group you can report it using the LDIS reporting form.
If you receive a drug alert that does not originate from the Derby and Derbyshire Drug Alert Group, you should not share it any further. You should email it to drugsupport@derbyshire.police.uk for review by the panel.
If you want to receive local drug alerts directly from the Derby and Derbyshire Drug Alert Group, you can join the Professional Information Network. Contact David Henstock, email david.henstock@derbyshire.gov.uk or Nicola Jordan, email nicola.jordan@derby.gov.uk providing your name, role, organisation, and email address.
Talk to Frank
Learn more about the effects of drugs and substance misuse, find support services and get advice from Talk to Frank.
Family and carer support
Derbyshire Recovery Partnership
The Derbyshire Recovery Partnership offers support to friends, family and carers of people with a drug or alcohol related issue.
Space 4 U
Space 4 U is a service we fund, supporting 5 to 18-year-olds living in Derbyshire (excluding Derby City), providing a safe space for children and young people who are affected by someone else’s alcohol or drug misuse. This could be a parent or carer, sibling or close friend.
SPACE 4 U helps to improve wellbeing and resilience so they can cope better and build stronger relationships at home, at school and in the community.
Referrals can be made by anyone who knows a child or young person who is seriously affected by someone else’s substance misuse.
Recovery communities
There are several charities and organisations in Derbyshire offering support for people who are in recovery from substance misuse and want to get involved in recovery based community activities to support their recovery.
This includes recovery communities. These are grass roots, community based support programmes for people with drugs and alcohol related issues.
Find out more about recovery projects and organisations in Derbyshire.
Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a group of people who share their experiences with each other in order to support and help others to recover from alcoholism.
The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no fees for AA membership.
You do not need to be referred to AA, you can get in contact with them yourself and take part in a local meeting.
Find your nearest AA group or tel: 0845 769 7555.
Narcotics Anonymous
Narcotics Anonymous (NA) is a group of recovering addicts who meet regularly to help each other stay clean.
This is a program of complete abstinence from all drugs. The only requirement for membership is the desire to stop using drugs.
You do not need to be referred to NA, you can get in contact with them yourself and take part in local meetings.
Find your nearest NA group or tel: 0300 999 1212.
Residential treatment
For people with severe alcohol and substance misuse problems who need extra help in tackling addictions we have 2 different residential treatment options.
In patient detox
This is a period in hospital or other residential setting where people take part in a medically managed programme enabling them to come off drugs or alcohol. This usually lasts between one and 2 weeks.
Residential rehabilitation
This often follows on from an inpatient detox programme and involves a 3 to 6-month stay.
These are referral-only services accessed through community treatment services. Contact the Derbyshire Recovery Partnership for more details on how to access residential treatment services, tel: 0845 308 4010 or 01246 206514.