An addiction to drugs or alcohol can fragment previously happy families, derail promising careers, and seriously damage health and wellbeing; and left unchecked, addictions inevitably run their full course of destruction.
Today we will look at one of the most saturated terms thrown around when talking about addiction and the dangers belief in it poses.
Rock Bottom is one of the most popular term used to describe a way to say a person struggling with addiction has reached his or her lowest point. In theory, when we hit this low, we have no choice but to give in and seek treatment. Rock Bottom can be applied to any addictive behaviour, not only those suffering from substance abuse, for example a person addicted to their profession might run the risk of burning out and reaching their rock bottom.
There are several common misconceptions around ‘rock bottom’ which can lead to harmful behaviour, for instance, a common perceived misconception that a person needs to hit rock bottom before they will be able to start a road to recovery, this is ultimately dangerously counterintuitive.
In reality people can benefit from intervention and therapy at any stage in the progression of addiction. If a person seeks help at earlier stages of addiction it can be make for a speedier recovery and transition back into society. The best time to initiate an intervention is as soon as substance use threatens to become abuse, and well before an addition has taken hold. If you fear a loved one is on their path to rock bottom you should express your concerns as early as possible i.e. not everyone one who flirts with heavy use and abuse consumptions will become dependent, and some may simply walk away unharmed from the abyss of dependency
Another misconception around rock bottom is that it involves a blinding moment of realisation where a person has to admit to a problem, this is in fact untrue, a person’s wall of denial can be broken through during therapy.
“Research has shown that even addicts who go into treatment only because they’ve been forced to go – perhaps by a court – have the same chance of getting and staying sober as anyone else,” explains Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
Hitting rock bottom does not automatically make a person ready for rehabilitation. The truth is that no one looks forward to entering treatment and that initial resistance is due to fear, a person looking to enter rehab will have to face that fear before the process can begin.
The key to understanding the concept of rock-bottom is realising that it’s a unique process for everyone. A loss of a profession or loved one can result in rock bottom moments. Due to this there is no way to possibly predict person rock bottom moments, the important aspect is realise what they represent and their destructive paths.
One of the most dangerous beliefs around the rock bottom concept is that once it passes there is no hope of recovery. By definition rock bottom inspires a need for a change, no matter if you have past or are on your way to a rock bottom there is always hope for recovery. In reality, relapses happen this does not signal a lost cause only that methods need to be adjusted to ensure success.
Conversely surviving a rock bottom moment does not make an addict immune to future pit falls and moments of temptation, accepting dangers and finding safe spaces and working towards a new lifestyle is key for a genuine successful recovery.
By Connor Fitzsimmons