When you need help to face your drinking or drug use problems, it can be hard to know where and how to begin. Ask a hundred people and you will likely get as many different responses. Professionals who work in the treatment field tout the scientifically proven practices they use, and those who are healing also have strong feelings about the methods, which have led them back from the brink of death. The bottom line is that, most often, you will need to decide for yourself which provider, practice or support group works best for you.

Right now there is a new recovery movement happening across our country, led by grass-roots recovery advocates and not by the professional treatment community. One of their principles is the importance of “recovery by any means possible.” This approach supports the validity of recovering through any of the many means available today. Most of these individuals are themselves in long-term recovery and have used a wide variety of tools, including 12-step and mutual support groups, religious and spiritual practices, intensive personal counseling, drug replacement therapies and others.

When you look at the variety of recovery-focused programs historically, you realize we have been struggling for many years to understand why some of us get addicted and how we can help our fellow community members get better. In his enlightening book “Slaying the Dragon: The History of Addiction Treatment and Recovery in America”, researcher William White outlines the variety of treatments that have been used in this nation since the 1800s and the strong convictions that have changed over time about what works best.

Today, research and dialogue continue. Even with our hard-won wisdom, though, the picture continues to evolve. We still have no final answers about the causes of substance dependency or the definitive cures for addictive illnesses. But, we do have a variety of tools that can be of help in finding our way.

The most important thing to realize about any treatment or support resource is that the hardest work will always be done by you, yourself, alone. No matter where you reach for help, it is your own commitment and resolve that will hold you together through the long minutes, hours and days of your recovery.

With that said, there is a lot to look forward to. Ask those in recovery about their lives today and you will hear that through sustained effort, their journeys have brought them new freedom and restored what matters most – self-respect, relationships with friends and family, physical and mental health, honest employment and joy in life.

Most people in long-term recovery will tell you that the real journey is no longer about just not using the chemicals that once ruled their lives, but is about living fully – a tremendous accomplishment for anyone living in a world as fragmented as ours.

Recovery – by any means possible – is the only true antidote to alcohol and drug problems, and many resources exist to help loosen their poisonous grip on our lives. People you know may claim they have found the “best” way or the “only” way, but the biggest challenge in recovery is having the courage to discover for yourself the ways that will work for you.

If anyone had the answers in hand, the serious problems relating to alcohol and drug misuse would already be solved. And they haven’t been – not even close. Just read the papers and listen to the news.

Debbie Dettor of Bangor serves as coordinator for the Maine Alliance for Addiction Recovery. Please join our weekly conversation about Maine’s substance abuse problem. We welcome comments or questions from all perspectives. Letters may be mailed to Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04401. Send e-mail contributions to findingafix@bangordailynews.net. Column editor Meg Haskell may be reached at (207) 990-8291 or mhaskell@bangordailynews.net.