To all the people who hit Rock Bottom with their Addiction, would love to hear how you built yourself back up from Nothing.
I sit here, July 10th 2026, Coffee in hand , Hungover , 38 years Old, Broke, Depressed, Lost my Job because of my Addiction (Again) And don’t know what I’m gonna do or where I’m gonna Live next month. Feel like I Wasted my Whole Life because of Drinking. Ruined several Relationships and Friendships because of my Drinking. This would be my Rock Bottom. The Only thing lower than this is Prison or Homeless.
But I have Hope and I Believe in God. And I’ve been in this position twice already. And I Survived. And I know I will get through this. I’m not Dead. As long as I am still Alive, I can get Everything Back. As Long as I stay Sober One Day at a Time, I can get Everything Back. I can Reclaim my Life. Can Ultimately get back My Self-Respect and Confidence.
If anyone can relate, would like to hear your story.
I see by your join date you’ve likely known for a while you have a problem. It takes a few of these failed attempts to finally get there. Not a single addict I’ve ever met just decided one day to stop and never had a bump in the road.
I’ve been at rock bottom, twice, you never know your actual rock bottom until you go deeper but you don’t have to find out from this point. My rock bottom was a mess, I’ll spare you the details but it was the hopelessness that got me, I felt powerless to actually do anything about it, drink and drugs let me escape reality and be someone else for a while, it was like a holiday from my own psyche, people would remark about how I was a totally different person when I was drunk. Our addiction wants that, it’s like a fucking parasite and we’re the host, it needs feeding constantly, the only way to rid it is to starve the bastard out.
You’ve got more than you think right now, it feels like you don’t but you do. Being sober gives you clarity, make sorting your life out your new addiction, get addicted to the dopamine hit of getting some money, sorting your affairs out, appreciate the sun, the rain, working out.
I got sober through sustained, dedicated action. Hope is not a plan. Hope is a byproduct of effort. If you are sitting with coffee in hand it would be wise to be sitting in a meeting. And with your free hand start looking for some outpatient. Therapy, sober living, inpatient rehab. All action steps.
I was unhoused and considering jumping off a bring. Now I’m closing in on 9 years sober. Those are the things that worked for me.
Hey Steve, glad ur here. Ive experienced a number of rock bottoms during my 22 years of addiction. Each one getting lower n lower in different ways.
But what helped me to re-build my life was taking ACTION. I spent years in addiction, knowing i needed and wanted to stop, making these “plans” for when and how I was going to quit. They were often just words with no follow thru. What ultimately mattered was the day I started to actually take action.
When I got truly sick n tired of being sick n tired, I stopped using drugs n drinking, got rid of any paraphernalia, went to treatment, did whatever I could to make it difficult for me to use (blocked numbers, never had too much money on me at one time, stopped seeing people and going places that were triggering etc), went to meetings, did the 12 steps after getting a sponsor, started exercising and taking better care of myself. I had to jump into recovery with both feet. I couldnt have 1 foot in the problem n 1 in the solution. That would always end in disaster.
And at one point, when i had 3 years clean and sober at age 21-24, i went to college to earn an education to help rebuild my life. Even tho i went back out into the problem at 3 years clean, i did manage to get a diploma beforehand and i am using that certification today in my field of work.
At age 41, I now have 4+ years clean and sober. Sobriety is the ONLY way that we can begin to rebuild our lives. And its never too late in life to do this Things are not exactly where Id like them to be (especially with my finances), but if I stay sober, it will only improve.
, Hungover , 38 years Old, Broke, Depressed, Lost my Job because of my Addiction (Again) And don’t know what I’m gonna do or where I’m gonna Live next month. Feel like I Wasted my Whole Life because of Drinking. Ruined several Relationships and Friendships because of my Drinking. This would be my Rock Bottom. The Only thing lower than this is Prison or Homeless.
Things are not exactly where Id like them to be (especially with my finances), but if I stay sober, it will only improve.