AWNA is a peer-support fellowship of people in recovery. We are not crisis counsellors, medical professionals, or trained responders. If you are in crisis, the resources below are equipped to help you in ways the fellowship cannot. Use them. They are free, confidential, and answer at any hour.
If you are in immediate danger
- 911 United States — emergency services (medical, suicide, overdose)
- 112 European Union — emergency services
- 999 United Kingdom — emergency services
- 000 Australia — emergency services
If you are alone and may be at risk, call now. The fellowship will be here when you are safe.
Suicide & mental health crisis
- 988 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (US) — call or text, 24/7, free, confidential
- Text HOME to 741741 Crisis Text Line (US, UK, Canada, Ireland) — text-based crisis support
- 116 123 Samaritans (UK & Ireland) — free 24/7 call
- 13 11 14 Lifeline Australia — 24/7 crisis support
Substance use & recovery referral
- 1-800-662-4357 SAMHSA National Helpline (US) — free, confidential, 24/7 treatment referral for substance use and mental health
- 0300 123 6600 FRANK (UK) — confidential drug advice, 24/7
- 1-800-668-6868 Kids Help Phone (Canada) — for anyone under 25, 24/7
- 1800 250 015 National Alcohol & Other Drug Hotline (Australia) — 24/7
Withdrawal safety
Some withdrawals are uncomfortable but safe. Some can be medically dangerous. The distinction matters.
Potentially dangerous — do not stop abruptly without medical guidance
- Alcohol (especially with heavy daily use). Alcohol withdrawal can cause seizures, delirium tremens, and death. Medical supervision is essential.
- Benzodiazepines (Xanax, Valium, Ativan, Klonopin, etc.). Withdrawal can cause seizures. Tapering must be medically managed.
- Opioids (heroin, fentanyl, prescription painkillers). Withdrawal is rarely fatal in healthy adults but is severely uncomfortable, and relapse during withdrawal carries fatal overdose risk due to lost tolerance. Medication-assisted treatment is widely available and effective.
Uncomfortable but generally safe
- Nicotine — irritability, sleep disturbance, intense cravings for 1–3 weeks.
- Caffeine — headache, fatigue, low mood for 1–2 weeks.
- Sugar and carbohydrates — cravings, mood instability, fatigue for 1–3 weeks. Patients with diabetes on insulin or sulfonylureas need medical co-management.
If you are uncertain which category your situation falls into, please contact your physician or one of the helplines above before stopping abruptly.
What AWNA is and is not equipped to do
What AWNA can do: Provide peer support, a community of people in recovery, daily online meetings, and a twelve-step framework for sustained recovery from the five substances. Help reduce the isolation that surrounds active addiction. Sit with you while you sit with a craving.
What AWNA cannot do: Manage medical or psychiatric emergencies. Diagnose conditions. Prescribe or dispense medication. Provide professional counselling. Respond to imminent risk. The meetings are not staffed by clinicians; they are run by members on a volunteer basis.
For people supporting someone else
If someone you love is in substance crisis, the resources above also apply to you. SAMHSA's helpline (US, 1-800-662-4357) provides referral and support for family members. The fellowship cannot intervene on someone else's behalf — recovery is voluntary — but we welcome family members at meetings if they want to listen and learn how their loved one's program works.
An honest note
We have written this page because the worst outcome for our website would be for someone to arrive here in crisis, find a beautiful fellowship page, and not know that immediate help exists elsewhere. The fellowship is for the long work of recovery. The crisis lines are for the moment that has to be survived first.
If you are in that moment now: pick up the phone. The number is above. The line will answer. Whatever you have done tonight, it can wait until you have called.