I’m a big fan of interventions. I know they work. My family orchestrated an intervention on me and it is what was necessary for me to accept my addiction and get me into treatment.

I am now doing interventions myself and I have seen and experienced countless interventions that have provided the addict with the appropriate “nudge” to get them into treatment.

I really believe that if an intervention is performed the right way, it is the most loving and caring thing family and friends can do for the addicted person. To do nothing is to allow the addict to progress down the path of destruction ultimately leading to their bottom which, as is said in the rooms of AA, can lead to death, jail, or insanity.

But not every single intervention ends up with the addict going into treatment. Sometimes the addicted person does not have family or friends who will set up an intervention, and they slowly but surely fade to their bottom. Occasionally, by reaching the bottom, they realize just how bad their addicted life is and that provides the necessary incentive to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and seek treatment on their own.

I was working with one family recently who had a son reach his bottom by way of several DUI arrests. His bottom was the prospect of jail time. Fortunately for him, the court sentenced him to treatment instead of incarceration. The court made it very clear that if he did not fully comply with the treatment plan, he would be hauled back into court and would be facing some serious jail time.

I visited this man several times during his detox and early inpatient treatment. He reported that he really wanted to stop using drugs and alcohol and make a positive change his life. Nothing unusual in that statement. I’ve heard that many times from people in treatment only to find out they relapse immediately upon discharge.

What made it different this time, he said, was that while wallowing in his bottom, he really got to know a way of living inconsistant with anything he’d ever dreamed of. Living in crack houses, associating with shady characters, living the life of crime, to name but a few items on his daily roster, were enough for him to realize he was ready for a change. The prospect of jail time was also persuasive.

Will this man be successful in his recovery after reaching his bottom? God only knows. But he reports that the experience of living his life in the bottom lane certainly has helped him up to this point in recovery and hopefully will be a constant reminder of what is waiting for him if he relapses.

Is a “bottom” the best way to get a person into treatment? Absolutely not. An intervention is the best approach as it seeks to avoid the nasty consequences of typical bottoms (death, jail, insanity). However, for some people, bottoms are the inevitable byproduct of addiction.