Hitting Bottom as Someone With an Addiction

By
Buddy T
Buddy T
Buddy T is an anonymous writer and founding member of the Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee with decades of experience writing about alcoholism.
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Fact checked by
Aaron Johnson
Aaron Johnson
Fact checked by Aaron Johnson
on August 29, 2021

Aaron Johnson is a fact checker and expert on qualitative research design and methodology. 

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on August 29, 2021
Medically reviewed by
John C. Umhau, MD, MPH, CPE
Umhau
Medically reviewed by John C. Umhau, MD, MPH, CPE
on October 27, 2020

John C. Umhau, MD, MPH, CPE is board-certified in addiction medicine and preventative medicine. He is the medical director at Alcohol Recovery Medicine. For over 20 years Dr. Umhau was a senior clinical investigator at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

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For people with alcohol use disorder, it may seem like things need to get worse before they can get better. Unfortunately, sometimes things get a lot worse. This point is often referred to as "hitting bottom." The bottom is the place that some people with severe alcohol use disorder must reach before they are finally ready to admit that they have a problem and reach out for help.

People who have alcohol use disorder often feel that they do not have a problem. In their minds, they are just having a good time and are still in control of their alcohol consumption.

Because alcohol use disorder is a progressive disease, there comes a point at which even people with severe AUD decide that there just might be a problem.

Alcohol use disorder does not stay in one place. The disorder doesn't hit a certain stage and then level off. It keeps deepening, affecting the person physically, mentally, morally, and spiritually.

No matter where a person is in the progression of the disorder, things continue to decline until the person reaches a point where something must change. So where is the bottom? This can vary depending upon the individual and their situation.

Where Is the Bottom Point?

For some, getting that first DUI might be where the turning point comes. Getting locked up, even for a few hours, and facing the public humiliation of a court date is for some the only signal they need they have a problem.

For others, however, not even numerous DUI arrests have an effect. Driving without a license and frequent visits to the local jail don't phase them at all.

People with alcohol use disorder have lost driver's licenses, jobs, careers, girlfriends, wives, family, and children and have continued to deny they have a drinking problem.

For many people, there is always a way to excuse or blame their behavior. It was always somebody else's fault. This might involve blaming other people or the situation. Or pinning the behavior on things like stress or people who just don't understand.

Some people with severe alcohol use disorder go on for many years denying their downward spiral into social, economic, and moral decline.

Does the Bottom Look Familiar to You?

If this sounds familiar, there are a few questions that you might want to ask yourself about your own use of alcohol.

It doesn't have to get any worse before you can find help putting your life back on track. Once you take that step, things will begin to look up.

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