drinking, drugs, and gamballing have affected my fiances too.
i'm unemployed and living off of handouts from my family. i have $14.35 to my name right now
i totalled my Porsche last June and wasn't able to afford repairing or replacing it. so i drank more.
my credit cards were always maxed out. i once cut them up but i then figuered a way to repair them. now i've thrown them away.
i owe the credit card people about $5000.
i often can't afford to pay my bills and stuff. but i don't really worry about it too much. i pay when i can.
in regards to your debts, making an arangement with the collection agency is certainly the best thing. they'd rather you pay a bit at a time rather then nothing at all.
good luck. let us know how you're getting on.