When it comes to an addict’s behavior, I hate to say, “things can’t get much worse,” because, sadly, things can, and probably will, get worse. I’ve written and taught, several times, that “rock bottom” means one of two (2) things: prison or death. Those are the only two outcomes of Addiction. People may not like that truth, but untreated addiction only ends those two ways.
The big problem, though, is that along the way Addiction takes a heavy toll. it’s an unforgiving and unrelenting process and once an addiction takes hold, the addict will do all he can to maintain his addiction. But I believe it’s a treatment provider’s job to make an addict realize that “right now” is the best time to get healthy because things will get worse than they are right now.
In general, people will almost always choose the easiest path. As a matter of fact, an average person won’t make behavioral changes unless he realizes that a given behavior is causing significant problems. Even then, if the problem is manageable, he still won’t make a change. For example, I knew a dude who ate way too much sugar and, although he developed severe diabetes, he still didn’t stop. It took a foot amputation before he reduced his sugar intake. It was just easier for him to eat as he always had and really, diabetes in and of itself wasn’t enough.
As addict is even harder to reach. Regardless of anyone’s begging or pleading, an addict prefers his addiction to anyone’s feelings and will not change unless he recognizes the pain that comes with being addicted. An addict needs to see, for himself, that being addicted is more painful than getting healthy. Until he see that, there are simply not enough reasons to change, but eventually, his behavior will end with one of the two outcomes. Awakening addicts to that pain is the primary job of all treatment providers.
Usually though, life provides all the evidence we all need to make improvements in our lives, addicted or not. If we could see that RIGHT NOW is the worst we could be; we could all start improving from this very moment onward. While we should all count our blessings, I really don’t know of anyone who can’t stand to improve themselves. Right now is the best time to make healthy changes because if we don’t, things will probably get worse.
for more information about beating addiction, please visit RecoveryAnswers.org.
