The limits
What this site will not do.
The subject here is one where being vague would do harm, so the limits are stated plainly rather than buried.
Not medical advice
Everything here is educational. Nothing on this site, including anything the chat generates, is medical, clinical, psychiatric, psychological or therapeutic advice, and none of it is a substitute for a doctor who can see you, examine you and take a history.
This site will not diagnose you, will not tell you whether you are dependent or an alcoholic, will not assess how serious your drinking is, and will not estimate any risk to you personally.
The one hard line
This site will never tell anyone to stop drinking suddenly, and will never set out a taper, a dose, a medication schedule or a home detox. Withdrawal from physical alcohol dependence can be fatal and has to be managed by a clinician. Where withdrawal is described on this site, it is described so that you can recognise it and get help — not so that you can manage it yourself.
Not a treatment provider, and not paid by one
This site is not a clinic, a rehab, a detox unit, a fellowship, a helpline, an intervention service or a placement broker. It does not assess, admit, refer or place anybody. James takes no referral fee, commission, retainer, advertising money or hospitality from any treatment provider, and never has. No clinic is named here as the best one.
Where a prior connection exists — James was a paying patient at Delamere in Cheshire in 2020 — it is disclosed on the page where it matters, and the rules for that are on the editorial standards page.
Prices and market information are a snapshot
Figures on this site describing what treatment costs are ranges written down at a point in time, from published information and from asking. They are not quotes, they are not offers, and no clinic is bound by them. Check any figure with the provider before you make a decision, and ask what is not included, because that is usually where the difference sits.
What the SI (super intelligence) guide is
It is an SI, not James, and it will tell you so. It cannot see you, remember you between sessions unless you are a member, arrange anything, contact anyone, or monitor you. It can be wrong. It is bounded deliberately: no diagnosis, no severity rating, no treatment instructions, no clinic recommendation, no price for anything.
It is not a crisis service. If a situation is urgent, the safety page is the right page and your local emergency number is the right call.
What you type
Do not name your employer, your clinic, your doctor or other people here, and do not paste documents. Nothing written into a chat window is confidential or privileged. If your drinking has become an employment, licensing or legal matter, that needs a solicitor or your professional body, not this site.
If any of this reads as unhelpfully cautious, the alternative is a site that hints at medical answers it is not qualified to give, on a subject where a wrong hint is dangerous.