Heroin and opioid addiction: where to get help in the UK

Please read this first

Overdose is an emergency. Call 999 straight away if someone is very sleepy and can’t be woken, their breathing is slow or has stopped, their pupils are very small, or they have blue or purple lips, or heavy, unusual snoring. If you have naloxone, use it as you were shown. Put them in the recovery position. Naloxone wears off after 20 to 40 minutes, so they still need an ambulance even if they come round, and with strong opioids like nitazenes they may need another dose. Stay with them until help arrives.

Your tolerance drops fast after a break. After a detox, or any time you’ve not been using, FRANK warns that taking the amount you used to take puts you at risk of overdose. The NHS says the risk is higher if you take heroin or other drugs, such as benzos, after detoxing.

The street supply is more dangerous than it was. FRANK says some drugs are increasingly cut with synthetic opioids like nitazenes, which have killed hundreds of people in the UK. Mixing heroin with alcohol, benzos or methadone is extremely dangerous.

Get a free naloxone kit. Ask your local drug service for naloxone and the training to use it. It can reverse an opioid overdose, and services can give kits to family and friends too. FRANK is confidential and open 24 hours on 0300 123 6600.

If you’re reading this, you might be using heroin or other opioids now, trying to stop, or worried about someone you love. Whichever it is, you’re in the right place. Opioid addiction is treatable. FRANK says doctors have developed a number of effective ways to treat it, and you don’t have to be ready to stop completely to ask for help. The NHS says that even if you’re not ready to stop, a service can still help you stay safe and healthy.

This page is mostly about where to turn. If you’re feeling hopeless or thinking about ending your life, please call Samaritans free on 116 123, any time, or 999 if you’re in danger.

Signs heroin or opioids have become a problem

You may already know the answer. If you’re not sure, these are common signs:

Needing more to get the same effect
Feeling ill when you go without, and using to feel normal rather than to get high
Cravings that are hard to resist
Money, housing, work or relationships suffering
Using alone, or mixing with other drugs or alcohol
An overdose, or a near miss

Where to get help in the UK

Local drug services. The NHS says you can ask a GP or local drug treatment service for help, and you can contact a service yourself. You’ll be given a key worker who helps you put together a personal treatment plan. Find support near you
Your GP. A good, confidential place to start. They can check your health and refer you to a drug service.
Opioid substitution treatment. Through a drug service you can be prescribed a substitute such as methadone or buprenorphine, either as ongoing maintenance or as part of a detox. The NHS guide to getting help for heroin explains the options.
Naloxone. Drug services give out free naloxone kits and show you how to use them. Change Grow Live explains naloxone and how to get a kit.
FRANK. Confidential advice 24 hours a day on 0300 123 6600, or text 82111. Read FRANK’s guide to heroin.
Support groups. Narcotics Anonymous runs meetings across the UK, in person and online, with a helpline on 0300 999 1212 (10am to midnight). SMART Recovery runs free meetings too.
For family and friends. Your key worker can arrange support for the people close to you. Families can also turn to Adfam, call Addiction Family Support on 0300 888 3853, or read the NHS advice for families of drug users.

Where hypnotherapy fits

Hypnotherapy is not a treatment for heroin or opioid dependence, and I don’t offer it as one. A drug service needs to be at the centre of your recovery.

If I work with you, it is only ever alongside a drug service. It is never a replacement for opioid substitution treatment such as methadone or buprenorphine, and please don’t change your prescription because of anything I offer. Any change to your treatment is for you and your prescriber to decide together.

Where I can help is alongside that care. Recovery brings a lot to deal with: stress, poor sleep, low confidence, old routines and the people and places linked to using. Sessions can help with those, so the work you’re doing with your service has more support around it. The effort is still yours, but sessions can give you more to lean on when things get hard.

Before we work together I’ll ask whether you’re in treatment with a drug service. If you’re not, I’ll ask you to contact one first, and if I think sessions aren’t right for you yet, I’ll tell you honestly.

Staying safer day to day

Carry naloxone. Make sure the people around you know where it is and how to use it.
Try not to use alone. If you overdose on your own, nobody can help you or call 999.
Remember your tolerance after any break. That includes a detox, a hospital stay or time in prison.
Avoid mixing. Alcohol, benzos, pregabalin, gabapentin and methadone all add to the risk. My pages on benzodiazepines, pregabalin and alcohol explain why.
Stay in touch with your key worker. Tell them if you’re struggling or have used on top of your prescription. They’re there to help, not to judge.

Common questions

What is opioid substitution treatment?

It’s where a drug service prescribes a safer substitute, such as methadone or buprenorphine, in place of street heroin. The NHS describes two approaches: maintenance, where you stay on the substitute, and detox, where you switch to it before gradually coming off. Your key worker will help you decide what’s right for you.

Where can I get naloxone?

Ask your local drug service. Services such as Change Grow Live give out free naloxone kits and training, and will replace a kit that’s been used, lost or has expired. Family and friends can ask for a kit too.

Can hypnotherapy help with heroin addiction?

Only ever alongside a drug service, and never as a replacement for opioid substitution treatment. It can help with stress, sleep and the routines around using while you’re in treatment. If you’re not in touch with a drug service, please contact one first.

Is it confidential?

Yes. What you tell me stays between us. As with any therapist, the only exception is if I believed you or someone else were at serious risk of harm.

I’m worried about someone else’s heroin use. What can I do?

Ask a local drug service for a naloxone kit so you’re ready if the worst happens, and learn the signs of overdose. Adfam and Addiction Family Support are there for you, and if the person is in treatment, their key worker can arrange support for family. You can’t make the decision for them, but you don’t have to carry the worry by yourself. If they also use cocaine, my cocaine page has more support.

Talk it through

If you’re already in treatment with a drug service and want help alongside it, book a £49 consultation call. We’ll talk about whether sessions would help with the work you’re already doing.

Book a consultation (£49)

Written by Adam Cox, clinical hypnotherapist. Sources: NHS, heroin: get help; FRANK, heroin; GOV.UK, opioid medicines and the risk of addiction; Change Grow Live, naloxone; NHS, drug addiction: getting help. Checked October 2026.