"Have you really hit "rock bottom"? This term has been thrown around by addicts and their loved ones for decades and is, in my opinion, a bad portrayal of an addicts circumstances.
The definition of rock bottom is "at the lowest possible level" which for us addicts, that level is fleeting and completely ambiguous. I can tell you that if I'm still alive, I have not hit "rock bottom".
A long time ago, I thought my best friend dying from the same drugs I was using was rock bottom, until I weighed 140 pounds. I thought being 140 was rock bottom, until I lost my job. I thought losing my job was rock bottom, until I lost my wife and kids. I thought that was rock bottom, until I lived in a trap house with 10 other dope fiends. I thought that was rock bottom, until I was homeless. I thought that was rock bottom until I got locked up... see what I'm getting at?
A better term would be reckoning. Because there is a realization that happens when you finally get sober. Maybe this reckoning happens at your "lowest possible point" and maybe it doesn't. Maybe look at it this way...
You haven't had your "rock bottom" yet because it's waiting to happen the next time you use.
So the next time you're talking about your loved one who has recovered, don't say "they finally hit their rock bottom". Say "They have had some sort of reckoning, and have turned their life around!" This turns it from a negative to a positive, which getting sober most definitely is."
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