Letting the Client Speak: drug misusers and the process of help seeking

This is the third report on a study of 150 drug misusers new to treatment at three London drug treatment agencies: a Drug Treatment Clinic, a Therapeutic Community and a Drug Crisis Centre. The focus here is on the clients’perceptions of the help seeking process, and particularly on their reasons for coming to services and their fears about treatment. Analysis of responses revealed an underlying structure to the‘reasons’and‘fears’. There were significant between-agency differences, and differences between those who injected drugs and those who did not. The importance of mood disturbance in the help-seeking process is discussed. The implications of the findings for the development of strategies and the provision of earlier and more appropriate treatment are examined.