Medical assessment & coordinated care
Understand the condition, physical and mental health, immediate risks and what level of care is appropriate.
The practice resource library
Addiction &
mental health
in real life.
Understand the pattern. Prepare a better conversation. Return to what matters.
Keep these within reach
Useful more than once.
Use a fresh sheet when circumstances change. Keep completed copies privately and decide what you want to discuss with your treating team.
Understanding addiction differently
Chronic conditions.
Real treatment options.
Substance use disorders and recognised behavioural addictions, such as gambling disorder, are treatable health conditions. A chronic-disease approach means looking beyond a single episode: understanding the pattern, treating related health problems and adjusting care over time.
Recovery and sustained improvement are possible. The course differs between people, and care should match individual needs. Not every pattern of use or repeated behaviour is a disorder; assessment matters. Ongoing care does not automatically mean lifelong specialist treatment.
Changing how we talk about addiction
Destigmatisation is central to Dr Hadinata’s approach. A person is more than a diagnosis. These resources use respectful language, take concerns seriously and make room for honest conversations without shame or blame.
Compassion includes discussing harm clearly, maintaining safe boundaries and keeping a door open when someone is not ready to change. Treatment and support can begin with the next useful conversation.
Listening, reducing harm and keeping the door openFurther reading: Healthdirect on addiction and treatment; WHO on gambling harms and disorder; Dr Hadinata’s comments on stigma in newsGP. Sources checked 27/09/2026.
Read. Reflect. Return.
Choose what is useful today.
Every guide includes an original discussion sheet. Fill it in privately on screen and print your answers, or download a blank one-page PDF. Return for a fresh copy whenever you need it.
9 guides, each with a reusable sheet
Still managing, but at what cost?
Keeping up with work, family or study can matter greatly. It does not answer every question about substance use. This guide helps you consider what is going well, what takes increasing effort, and what you would like to understand with a clinician.
A starting point Use this when you are unsure whether your concerns deserve attention because you are still meeting your responsibilities.
5 min readGo to the sheet
When substance use and mental health get tangled
Sleep, mood, stress and substance use can become difficult to separate. Looking at when things happen can help you describe the problem, even when the cause is unclear. This guide offers a small pattern map to support a conversation with your treating clinician.
A starting point Use this when several problems seem connected and you are unsure which one to discuss first.
5 min readGo to the sheet
One useful change this week
Understanding a pattern can be valuable, but a workable next step also needs the right skills, circumstances and support. This weekly review helps you notice what helped, choose one realistic action and adjust your plan without turning the week into a pass-or-fail test.
A starting point Use this when you know something needs to change but your plans become hard to carry out in everyday life.
5 min readGo to the sheet
After a return to use: what matters now
A return to use can bring fear, disappointment or an urge to hide what happened. The first task is safety. Once urgent needs are addressed, this guide helps you reconnect with care, consider what needs changing and take one useful next step.
A starting point Use this after a return to use, once immediate safety and medical needs have been addressed.
5 min readGo to the sheet
Supporting someone while looking after yourself
Caring about someone can leave little room for your own needs. You can offer support, have limits and seek help for yourself. This guide combines a respectful conversation with a practical plan for your health, rest, support and safety, whether or not the person changes.
A starting point Use this before a conversation about someone else's substance use, or when your own limits need attention.
5 min readGo to the sheet
Make your next appointment useful
An appointment is a chance to bring the picture together, ask questions and agree what happens next. This guide helps you prepare for a first assessment or a later review, without needing a perfect history or all the answers before you arrive.
A starting point Use this before a GP, specialist or other treating-clinician appointment, including a review of ongoing care.
5 min readGo to the sheet
A focused Addiction Medicine referral
A focused referral makes the clinical question and current care visible. This guide offers GPs a reusable structure for requesting Addiction Medicine input, recording the patient's priorities and clarifying shared responsibilities. It supplements clinical judgement and the receiving service's referral requirements.
A starting point Use this when seeking specialist input on a substance-use concern, co-occurring complexity or an unresolved treatment question.
5 min readGo to the sheet
When someone is not ready for change
Someone can want life to be different and still feel unsure about changing substance use. Care does not have to wait for complete certainty. This guide helps patients, families and clinicians keep talking, respect choice and reduce immediate risks while a next step takes shape.
A starting point Use this when you feel pulled in different directions, or when a conversation about change keeps becoming an argument.
5 min readGo to the sheet
Sustaining care when progress is slow
Slow progress can leave GPs worried, frustrated or carrying too much alone. Compassionate care includes clear responsibilities, realistic follow-up and support for the clinician. This guide helps you review the care plan and your own needs without withdrawing care or blaming the patient.
A starting point Use this when uncertainty, repeated crises or frustration are affecting how you experience a patient's care.
5 min readGo to the sheet
For GPs & health professionals
Support the patient.
Sustain the care.
Use these sheets to structure a conversation, notice change over time or prepare a clinical question. They are original discussion aids, not validated screening instruments or clinical protocols.
Choose one relevant sheet, explain its purpose and agree when to revisit it. Use your own assessment and usual records, consent and safety processes. There is also space here for your own wellbeing and the challenges of providing continuing care.
Considering specialist care
Putting the picture
together.
A clinical assessment brings these ideas into the context of your health, history and circumstances.
Your General Practitioner remains central to ongoing care. They can help you decide what support is appropriate and whether a specialist referral would be useful.
For more detailed reading, Dr Hadinata’s books and public contents cover recovery, psychological flexibility and living towards what matters. These free resources can be used on their own.
If something cannot wait
These resources are not an emergency service. Call 000 if someone is in immediate danger, difficult to wake, not breathing normally or having a seizure. For crisis support, call Lifeline on 13 11 14. For alcohol and other drug support in Victoria, call DirectLine on 1800 888 236.
Stopping or sharply reducing heavy or dependent alcohol use can be dangerous. Seek medical advice before making a sudden change. Do not stop or change prescribed treatment on the basis of these resources.