“I hit rock bottom.” These words are often the crux of a former addict’s inspirational story about recovery. The expression refers to an addict finding him or herself in the worst of circumstances in their addiction before embarking on a path to long term sobriety. Stories like these can be very moving and encouraging to those seeking recovery, but they are often taken out of context. A popular misconception is that addicts need to hit rock bottom as sufficient motivation to seek treatment. However, this idea can be both harmful and misleading to those struggling with substance abuse.
First of all, waiting for a person to hit rock bottom before recovery can be severely dangerous. For some, hitting rock bottom is getting too drunk and making a fool out of them self at a party. For others, rock bottom means swallowing an entire bottle of pills in a desperate attempt to achieve thrilling intoxication. Regardless of the person in question, the point of reaching rock bottom is oftentimes too late for an addict to seek recovery.
Secondly, the idea that a person needs to hit rock bottom before seeking treatment assumes that there are few or no other compelling factors to lead an addict on the road to recovery. However, there are several safer influences that can inspire a person to clean up their act.
The encouragement of family, friends and co-workers rank at the top of this list. Our post on how to confront a drug addict discusses a number of methods to inform a person in your life that they have a serious problem. Not to mention, there is always hope that a person can individually recognize and address the problems in their life before finding them self in a set of dangerous, regretful circumstances. All things considered, rock bottom shouldn’t be thought of as a means to recovery, but rather, a risky last resort.
The purpose of this post is not to dismiss or belittle former addicts who turned their lives around from hitting rock bottom. Anybody who has fought back from such odds to become sober deserves to be respected and admired. However, addicts should not rely on rock bottom as a means to achieve recovery. They should instead try to detect their problems earlier on in their condition for the sake of personal health and safety.
If you or a loved one are waiting for the right moment to confront your addiction, don’t put it off until tomorrow. The outcome of doing so could be life-threatening. Prominence Treatment is here to help you today. Contact our intake specialists for a free and confidential consultation: 888-609-3498.
Image Credit: Flickr: Jennifer Boyer