You Know You Hit Rock Bottom When...

“I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.”

Hitting rock bottom of an addiction is a little like that old joke – you might wonder why your drug problem keeps getting bigger. Then you hit rock bottom.

It is easier to recognize rock bottom when watching someone else hit it – just drive down any inner city alley and assume everyone laying in the gutter has nowhere to go but up. While it is more difficult to recognize your own fall, there are a few ways to know when you have hit rock bottom.

You know you hit rock bottom when:

You know a hundred ways to get high at work… if you had a job. It takes a lot of lost work and loss of dedication to earn one’s way to rock bottom.

You have no idea what you meant with that FaceBook posting or tweet – you were blasted out of your mind and likely to say just about anything. Rock bottom is littered with garbled graffiti insulting people you used to care about.

You have already pawned off all of your family’s good stuff to support your habit. It takes a lot of money to travel all the way to rock bottom; your family will need to provide a lot of financial aid for your drug habit. Rock bottom causes widespread financial devastation.

You had to ditch your old friends because they did not want to travel to rock bottom with you. They were becoming downright unforgiving lately too – what are a few drug-fuelled fistfights or psychotic rages between friends anyway?

Your current friends are also at rock bottom and cannot afford nice stuff for you to rip off. Someone once said you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with – you know you hit rock bottom when you find yourself surrounded by nothing but drug addicts.

You are too stoned to understand what your kid learned in kindergarten that day. Rock bottom is stupid – it wipes away your ability to think clearly and understand simple conversations.

You punch holes in the walls, cry like a baby, pick fights with people, or go on a drug-seeking binge because you have an unreliable drug dealer. There is nothing worse than waiting all night for your drug dealer to come through, just to hear the same old lame promise of dope in the morning.

You know that chick who dances topless or that guy who sticks a gun in someone’s ribs for money? Yeah, that’s you. You know you hit rock bottom when you start doing incredibly embarrassing or even illegal things to keep your habit alive.

Drug addiction seems to change someone’s sense of motion: many people do not know they are plummeting until they hit rock bottom. Learning the signs of a substance abuse problem helps you recognize a growing drug addiction before you hit rock bottom. 

By Corey Snyder

Director of Hitting Rock Bottom, a new webseries portraying real people and their stories of addiction and recovery, at www.HittingRockBottomShow.com.

Help us finish the season! Together we can raise awareness about addiction. Please donate at www.indiegogo.com/projects/hitting-rock-bottom/

The Growing Problem of Prescription Drug Abuse Among Teens

Illegal drugs are no longer the problem among teens; it is the legal kind they can get at any drug store. Obviously, there is still a problem with illegal drugs among teens. The problem involves drug abuse and drug addiction. In years past, the problem of drug addiction centered on illegal drugs such as marijuana, heroin and “party drugs” such as ecstasy. In communities across the nation, the unspoken problem is prescription drug use and abuse.

The numbers are staggering relating to drug addiction. More than 8.7 million people have an addiction to prescription drugs. This number exceeds the number of teens addicted to hard narcotics. A recent survey brought to light the need for recovery services aimed toward teens. The study stated approximately 60% of teen in the 12th grade obtain and use prescription drugs.

Why is prescription drug addiction a problem?

According to the National Institutes of Health, there are several factors as to why prescription drug addiction is becoming a nation-wide problem. There is a misconception relating to the safety of the prescription drug. Parents and teens assume the medication prescribed by the doctor is safe. What is not considered in the implications of the drug. Several medications cause reactions similar to those of illicit drugs.  

An additional factor relating to the problem of prescription drug addiction is the availability. Prescription medications increased by more than 40 million users in the past two decades for stimulants and more than 134 million for analgesics.

What are the solutions?

There are several ways to help teens cope with addiction. It is imperative to communicate with a doctor, counselor, teacher, family friend or a hotline. Contact the Treatment Referral Helpline for services in your area.  The service connects teens and family with licensed facilities, organizations and support groups designed to assist with drug addiction. An anonymous source available is the National Suicide Prevention Helpline. Consider the available drug rehab and recovery programs. There are several free and low-cost services available such as Sundown Ranch, Marworth and Hazelden.

Hitting rock bottom does not mean giving up. When teens and families understand the horrors surrounding drug addiction and learn various ways to seek recovery, the outcome is positive. Teens are the lifeblood of the future. We need to provide assistance and guidance and stop them from hitting rock bottom.

By Corey Snyder

Director of Hitting Rock Bottom, a new webseries portraying real people and their stories of addiction and recovery, at www.HittingRockBottomShow.com.

Help us finish the season! Together we can raise awareness about addiction. Please donate at www.indiegogo.com/projects/hitting-rock-bottom/