Asking for help isn’t easy for many families, because it so often means you’ve “failed” somehow. However, substance abuse extends beyond the family, and it is a worldwide problem. There is nothing to be truly ashamed of, and the only mistake is accepting that the addict can use. Whether it’s a father downing painkillers … a mother smoking marijuana … or a son or daughter drinking underage—substance abuse is about asking for help immediately before anything major happens. We’ve all heard the war stories of drug addicts losing everything to their addiction; the answer is to ask for help before that happens.