If you need help right now

If you are in immediate danger

Call your local emergency number now. In the US and Canada that's 911, across the EU it's 112, in the UK it's 999, in Australia it's 000, in Indonesia it's 112.

If you are thinking about ending your life

Please talk to somebody today. Not eventually. Today.

Alcohol makes those thoughts louder, closer and more convincing, and it does it chemically, not because of any failure in you. That is one more reason not to sit with this alone tonight.

Go to an emergency department now if any of this is happening

• A seizure or a fit
• Confusion, or not knowing where you are
• Seeing, hearing or feeling things that aren't there
• A fever with heavy sweating and a racing heart
• You can't keep fluids down

These are signs of severe alcohol withdrawal, including a condition called delirium tremens. It is a medical emergency, people die from it, and it is treatable. Nobody there will be shocked and nobody will lecture you.

If you want to stop drinking and your body reacts when you do

If you shake in the morning, sweat through the sheets, feel sick until the first drink, or have ever had a fit when you cut down, talk to a doctor before you stop drinking. Alcohol withdrawal can be dangerous, and it is treatable. That is a medical decision, not a coaching one.

You can use these exact words with a doctor: "I drink daily and I get shaking or sweating when I stop. I want to stop safely. Do I need medically supervised withdrawal?" It is one of the most ordinary things they deal with.