Rock Bottom Could Mean Dead
Getting help for addiction is on the forefront of many family’s minds across the country. With most of the U.S. completely enveloped inside of the drug epidemic, more people are needing substance abuse treatment, since more people are addicted drugs than ever before. With more people needing help, there are more and more opinions about how to properly deal with an addict. Some schools of thought believe you should love the addict until they can love themselves and other groups of thought believe you should cut the addict off completely and not enable them to continue using drugs and living their destructive lifestyle. Some people believe in doing interventions and others believe you can’t force a person to go to treatment. The bottom line is, the most important thing for any addict is that they get the help they need because if they don’t, the consequences can be fatal.
I’ve heard time and time again:
“I’m not doing an intervention, I can’t force him to get help.”
“She needs to hit rock bottom first…”
I don’t know who came up with the “rock bottom” theory, but I personally believe it’s an irresponsible viewpoint to take on addiction. Watching an addict continuously self-destruct without jumping in and doing something about it, while maintaining the idea that they’ll get help when they’ve been beaten and battered enough to ask for help is ridiculous.
I’ve also heard some families say:
”He’ll hit his bottom eventually, then he’ll go to treatment.”
“Well, everyone’s bottom is different.”
Yeah, well some people’s bottom is dead. And then what? I couldn’t imagine watching a loved one shooting heroin and meth and just telling myself that they’ll get help when they’re ready. The thing is, asking for help for addiction is a logical thing to do. It’s a logical choice. I don’t understand why so many families expect their loved one, who is in the midst of a completely out-of-control addiction, to make a logical decision, like asking for help. The reality is that an addict has one thing in mind and that’s to keep getting high at all costs. They might not have an amazing epiphany one day and ask mom and dad for help.
Interventions are great tools that should be used whenever a family has someone who is resistant to going to drug rehab. Interventions aren’t “forcing” someone to go to treatment. They’re a method of getting an addict to see the grave nature of their situation and come to the realization that they need professional help before something bad happens. There’s no “black bagging” a person and dropping them off at a treatment center and there’s certainly no force used. The family does give consequences for them choosing not to get help as a way of getting them to see the light, so to speak.
No family should let their addict wait until they hit bottom to get them help because their bottom might not allow them the chance to go to treatment. Bottom could mean dead and I’d hate for any family to regret their decision to wait until the addict was ready to get them help. If you have a loved one who needs help, get them help now, do an intervention, do whatever it takes to save them from themselves.
