How do you know when you've hit rock bottom?

Question

Well thought-out answers would be appreciated. I would also like some examples if you have any where you realized that you had come crashing down.
I happen to have my own theory on this one, but I wanted to get your view on it. Thanks. :-)

This is my view: You don't know when you've hit rock bottom because you simply don't. We never hit rock bottom because if we're still here to make the realization, then it's impossible. I think life is a free fall through an infinite eternity. I think every "supposed" rock bottom we face is actually a realization, that allows us to stop and think for a moment. We realize what happened, how it hurt us, process, understand and grow from that knowledge only to make the necessary changes. I like to think of it much as Alice's fall down the rabbit hole in wonderland. She's falling down an infintely continuing hole, and the reason she stops is because of a simple realization. For Alice, it is her step by step transition from childhood to young adulthood. Perhaps, we all make our transition to a new level of maturity in such a manner. So, don't give up, because life is just one big scary fall. But what matters is that each time we think we've stopped, we have a realization. :)

Answer 1

Hi Lana,

I hit rock bottom when I was getting harassed by the company I was working for. For about 3 months I was going mental. Some of my symptoms included the following:

1. I was in intense fear, which made my decisions and actions seem completely irrational to others. For example, I started to believe that I was bipolar (when in actuality I was not) and telling people this, including my doctor who prescribed me medication.

2. I gained weight and could no longer weightlift or do the things I liked to do without letting it bother me. I could not leave my house, all I could was sit down and do nothing. Other people often lose weight when they are hitting rock bottom.

3. I needed lots of sleep every night and went to bed at like 7:00, whereas my bedtime before was like 2:00 A.M..

4. I would cry about trivial matters.

Hope this helps. This is just some of the htings I did, it is different for anyone. I eventually got fired and things improved a couple months afterwards.

Answer 2

I have depression. I've gotten much better, but for a long time it was really hard. I felt almost all the time that I had hit rock bottom, meaning I thought that there was nothing in my life that was worth living for, that everything i cared about was dead, and that things would never get any better at all, that my life would remain horrible forever. That's my definition of "hitting rock bottom"; when you've lost all hope. People in that situation often start using drugs and engage in self-destructive behavior in general.

Answer 3

I remember reading a free newspaper in college about alcoholics who have found God. They were watching the last drop slide down the bottle and it was so little that it didn't reach the end. They were sleeping in a gutter by a bar or liquor store in tattered clothes, their last suit, and they didn't have a nickel to their name to get another drink. They had lost their house, their children, and their wife. They felt the world had abandoned them and as they looked at the end of the bottle tipped to their lips, they realized that God was their only salvation.
I could not believe how many of these stories existed. I was impressed, Week after week I read them. I read one where a guy had squandered away his college opportunities and his parents cut him off before they went bankrupt. The only job he could get was tending a modern chicken farm by himself in the fields of the Midwest. He spent days alone tending chickens. One day he spent two hours watching a chicken on a video look at a brick. He decided it couldn't get any worse and he had been a fool. He decided to change his life and apply himself.
When things seem to get overwhelming and you suffer from sensory overload and there doesn't seem any way out, people breakdown. Men more than women commit suicide. Women may have themselves committed so that it all stops and they can catch their breathe.
You you want more of a description? Does it support your hypothesis?

Answer 4

this could be a looong discussion, but here's a short list:

- when you lose interest in the things you used to love doing
- when you have cut off all family and friends
- when it affects your job performance
- when it affects your eating habits

this list isnt exhaustive, but i tried to hit the main points. of course, drug-use (or increase of) is a sure sign youve hit bottom, or at least, are on your way.

keep your head up, and try thinking positively. instead of thinking "am i going to hit rock bottom?" think "there are resources everywhere (friends, family, clinics, groups, doctors, psychatrists, even universities to name a few) if and when i choose to take back my life". this is the classic "is the glass half full or half empty" question, but it speaks volumes.

dont concentrate on avoiding the trip down, instead focus (but dont obsess about) on your way back up when you choose.

Answer 5

When you stop caring about yourself.

It's different than not caring about the people or things around you - politicians are like this normally. You haven't hit rock bottom if you still want to pull YOURSELF out of it - YOU still care.

When you don't care if things get better, when you don't care if you live or if you die, that's rock bottom. I had help to pull myself from there - that's how I know.

Answer 6

When you feel like no matter how many times you try, you're always going to stay there forever...in a negative way.

Answer 7

When your existance is unacknowledged by those you care/cared for.