On my way to the airport the other day, the hotel van driver asked me that stock question that is inevitable whenever strangers share a ride: "What do you do for a living?"

I told him I work for an organization that helps addicts and alcoholics, loath to go into much detail because the ride was too short to explain treatment, much less the dynamics of addiction.

But the driver picked up on it right away: "Man, I was in treatment six times before I gave my life to the Lord Jesus Christ," he said. "I turned my life around, don't do drugs or even drink anymore, go to church all the time now."

I was quick to identify myself as an alcoholic and drug addict who found recovery because I, too, got treatment more than once. But I could see by his face in the rearview mirror that he seemed puzzled.

"Oh, I'm no alcoholic or drug addict, and I am not in recovery. I just go to church so I don't get high anymore."

His perspective reminds me that there are many pathways leading out of the personal problems that are endemic to the use and abuse of illegal and legal substances. What works for one person may not be appropriate or effective for another. How the driver defined his problem is different from how I view mine. What matters, though, is that both of us were desperate to change. And that's where it starts.

Dear Mr. Moyers: I need help, and I need it right now. For the past eight years or so, I have been trying to fill the empty hole inside. I gave up smoking crack for drinking five years ago, thinking that might make it easier. Things keep getting worse. Amazingly, my wife and three sons have stuck by me, and I still have my business and our home. How can I have so much and not be satisfied? I don't want to lose it all, yet I guess I have to hit some sort of bottom first. I don't know what I want from you. Maybe I just need to know it can be done. — Jon S. in Atlanta

Dear Jon: There is only one bottom for your problem, and that's death. Short of that, there is a way out. So don't wait. It's never too late. If you are "sick and tired of being sick and tired," as they say, then you are ready.

For many people, addiction treatment is an avenue to a better life. A lot of people find the solution through 12-step programs, such as Alcoholics Anonymous. For others, especially people of color, the principle of "powerlessness" found in 12-step programs is confusing or uncomfortable. But there are culturally and racially specific programs for recovery that work.

The same is true for people with strong religious beliefs who prefer to seek solutions through their churches. Yes, it can be done. Hold on to that hope until you find what works for you. But stop doing things your own way, because your desperation is proof that what you've done up to now has not worked.

Whether it's Jon in Atlanta, the hotel van driver in upstate New York or I, the key to hope is knowing we need help. It doesn't really matter whether we define our problems as alcoholism or drug abuse, whether we seek the solutions through treatment or a group or the sanctuary of church. In the end, what counts is that we recover from the dark despair and desperation of our problems. To that end, we are all the same.

William C. Moyers is the vice president of external affairs for the Hazelden Foundation and the author of "Broken," a best-selling memoir. The paperback edition was released in August 2007. Please send your questions to William Moyers at William@WilliamMoyers.com. To find out more about William Moyers and read his past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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