How to get help for yourself

The first step is to ask for help. If you are experiencing problems with your mental health and/or use of substances, you should talk to your family, friends, a counselor or doctor. Please don't feel ashamed, or try to deal with this on your own. You can also call one of the services listed below. Ask questions and accept help. Everyone needs help at some time in his or her life. You will recover faster with the proper type of treatment and support. With treatment and support, many people recovery from concurrent disorders.

Concurrent disorders cause a great deal of disruption and distress to peoples lives. Given this, the government and private organizations are putting greater time and money into developing more and better services to help those who struggle with these multiple problems. Right now, however, if you live in the GTA there are a number of excellent programs that deal with mental health issues, substance use problems, and specifically with concurrent disorders - if you feel you might have a concurrent disorder, we encourage you to make contact with one of the services listed below and get yourself onto that path of recovery.

If you live in the Central West LHIN

Call one of the programs listed below during regular work hours. Information is provided for each program to help you decide which one to call. If you don't know whether to call a mental health or subtance use program first, don't worry about it. Call one of the concurrent disorders-specific programs, or just call a program that sounds like it might be helpful to you. The easiest thing to do may be to call a program that provides services in the area of the Central West LHIN in which you live.

When you call a program, the phone will be answered by someone who will listen to you. They will answer your questions. If they need to, they can refer you to other mental health, substance use and broader health and social services. In order to help you better, the person probably will ask you questions like:

• Why you felt the need to call now
• What problems you are having
• What help you may have sought in the past
• What type of help you are looking for now

Together you will figure out what the next step should be.

Don't worry about having to figure out which is the "right" program to call. If you call one and the person and you both decide that another program might make more sense for you, then they will help connect you to that program.

If you feel you need emergency assistance right now, you should call 911 or go to your local hospital emergency room.