Does an Alcoholic Have to ‘Hit Bottom’ in Order to Get Alcohol Treatment and Becomes Sober?

Hitting bottom or being at rock-bottom is an expression used to describe the point at which an alcoholic hits the point of utter despair.

It basically means you get to the lowest of the low point in your life, and things are almost too painful to keep going on. Another way of describing this phenomenon is being’ sick and tired of being sick and tired.’

It is ironic, but some people would say a person is at their most teachable point when he has nothing further to lose. The only way to go is either into alcohol recovery, or death. Is it necessary to hit bottom? One old saying is that you know you’ve hit bottom when you stop digging the hole you’re standing in"

I would argue that any moment that is capable of getting ones attention and motivating enough to start change is what we are really looking for. The concept of a planned intervention is to raise the bottom up. It is putting pressure on the drinker to raise their consciousness to see that they are at a bottom, though the drinker may not be capable of the insight themselves.

There has been some research conducted into the thought or cognitive processes that are associated with recovery from alcoholism. One study shows that 75% of the participants were in very bad emotional or physical states (having ‘hit bottom’) states before a radical change in their drinking patterns.

I believe that while it may not be necessary to have crashed and burned to begin the process of addiction recovery, the study shows that the following types of personal lows were instrumental in helping people to modify their drinking behavior.

Here are the negative consequences commonly cited as strong motivators to enter sobriety:

Shame    

Having delirium tremens (DT’s)

Loss of self-respect

Shame

Contemplation of suicide

Attempts of suicide

Losing one’s sense of purpose and meaning in life

Personal shame

Deterioration of health and personal degradation

One way of determining if one has really hit their bottom is if they have arrived at the point where the pain of continuing drinking exceeds the pain anticipated in stopping alcohol use and entering recovery. In other words, is what one has lost or what one is fearful of losing, finally more important than the alcohol?Pain is a great motivator. If the pain of continuing to drink has become too great and it is finally take time to take some action, there are addiction treatment centers available for everyone. Finances certainly need not be a barrier to obtaining alcohol treatment. More information is available.

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