Alcohol, tobacco and cannabis. Medication-led treatment with structured follow-up — and no lectures, which rarely help anyone who has already tried to stop on their own.
Almost nobody arrives here without having tried willpower first, usually several times. Repeated failure to stop is not a character finding — it is the clearest evidence that the problem has a physical component, and that is the part medication can help with.
There are no lectures here. The useful questions are how much, since when, what happens when you stop, and what you want the situation to look like — not whether you should have let it get this far.
Said quietly, usually in the first ten minutes.
I can stop for a week. I have proved that to myself many times. It is the second week that never happens.
Sales manager, 41My liver reports came back abnormal. That is the only reason I am here.
Businessman, 47It started as something for sleep. Now I cannot sleep without it.
Teacher, 36Dependence is what happens when a system designed to learn what is rewarding learns it too well.
With regular use the brain compensates, so the same amount does less. Stopping then leaves the compensation exposed, which is withdrawal. The substance is now needed to feel normal rather than to feel good.
A large proportion of people drinking heavily are managing anxiety, trauma, insomnia or undiagnosed ADHD. Treating only the drinking while leaving that untouched is why so many attempts do not hold.
Medication genuinely changes the odds here, and most people have never been offered it.
Asked plainly and heard without reaction. Under-reporting is near universal and entirely understood — but the dose of treatment depends on the real number, so it is worth the discomfort once.
Anxiety, trauma, sleep disorder and undiagnosed ADHD are all common and all treatable. Finding them is usually what separates an attempt that holds from one that does not.
Liver function, nutrition, and how severe withdrawal is likely to be. This decides whether stopping can be done at home or needs supervised detoxification.
Medication does two jobs: it makes withdrawal safe, and it reduces craving afterwards. The second is the part most people have never been offered, and it is the part that makes the difference over months rather than days.
Alongside it, treatment of whatever sits underneath, a realistic plan for the situations where it usually happens, and follow-up at intervals close enough to catch a slip before it becomes a return.
In someone physically dependent, abrupt alcohol withdrawal can cause seizures and delirium and is a medical emergency. If you are drinking daily and heavily, the safe route is a supervised reduction. Book before stopping, not after.
Confidential. Includes the written plan. Reviews are ₹800 and are usually more frequent at the start.
Not without your written consent. Records are confidential under the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017. Many people do choose to involve someone eventually, because it helps — but that is your decision and it is not a condition of treatment.
Not necessarily at the outset. For some people controlled reduction is a reasonable goal; for others, particularly where there is liver damage or severe dependence, abstinence is the safer target. It is discussed rather than imposed.
Yes. Relapse is part of the pattern for most people and says nothing about whether the next attempt will hold. What usually differs on a successful attempt is medication for craving and treatment of whatever sits underneath — often neither was present before.
The assessment and follow-up, yes. Where supervised detoxification is needed, that requires in-person care and you will be told so plainly. Some medicines used in de-addiction cannot be prescribed by teleconsultation under Indian law.
Often what is underneath
Strongly associated
Cannabis and psychosis
Call Tele-MANAS 14416 — free, 24 hours. If someone is in immediate danger, call 112.