Rock Bottom - defined as the lowest possible level. It’s fascinating to me that this is associated with drinking and even more accurately with not drinking.
The connection with ‘rock bottom’ and alcohol comes from the 12 step programs that suggest one must be at rock bottom in order to embrace change. I find this puzzling; where else do we wait for something to become unmanageable before we decide to take action? For example, do we wait for our car to break down before we decide to repair it? And, what is defined as ‘rock bottom’? Is it enough if someone has a DUI? What if someone loses their job? If a family member suggests there is a problem, is that ‘rock bottom’?
I find it much more helpful and positive to think about asking a different question: rather than ask “is my drinking bad enough for me to quit?”, we can ask “Is my drinking adding enough good things that I should continue?”. This takes the focus off reaching a level of behavior and puts it into the context of an empowered choice.
I share in the podcast today that I had people in life who didn’t think my level of drinking, or my issue with alcohol was ‘bad enough’ to quit, that I didn’t have a ‘problem’. I am grateful that I stopped drinking before it became obvious to others that I had a ‘problem’ but I also recognize that the idea of needing my drinking to reach a certain level before I stopped kept me trapped for a long time. Society tells us what ‘normal’ drinking should look like - I now realize there is nothing ‘normal’ about drinking a toxic and addictive substance on a regular basis.
We now have new language to help us define our alcohol use and it doesn’t have to include ‘rock bottom’. Instead, we can think about AUD, alcohol use disorder and about ‘gray area’ drinking which allows us to explore our level of drinking on a spectrum and to make an empowered choice about how alcohol fits into our life and the impact it might be having.
