DEAR DEIDRE: MY best friend died from a heroin overdose and I am lost without him.
I am 26 now but we had been friends since we started school. We were both only children and we became very close, more like brothers than friends.
We found good jobs when we left school but at different places. We still went out together and one evening I noticed that he seemed odd.
I asked him what was wrong and he admitted he was using drugs and was dependent. I tried everything I could to help him stop but nothing worked.
He died a year ago and I am devastated. I feel so useless because I should have been able to help him.
DEIDRE SAYS: Please do not blame yourself. You were a good friend and tried to help him. Only he could make the decision to stop.
You can get support to help you cope from DrugFAM (drugfam.co.uk, 0300 888 3853).