The addict is told that he must reach rock bottom before recovery can happen. The mental breakdown can be seen as an epiphany if played out right. Rarely are the veils lifted and if you get a glimpse then by god you should grab it, most people never get one. The epiphany of self is as profound as religious experience but should not be confused as one. If you are not regularly party to spiritual experience a clear sight of yourself can seem like one.
Alan Badiou speaks of the idea of the event - The rupture in the nature of being and seeming that allows, momentarily, the omnipresent, unchanging and therefore invisible truth to become evident. It is precisely because we are a creature who perceive time as linear, and only visible by change that we rarely see the truth. It requires all movement, all progress to stop for a moment for us to see.
Alcoholics speak of rock bottom. A place from which all self deception is stripped. It is the vision of yourself in its purest sense,without any spin, without denial. It is the Road to Damascus moment.
Not everyone gets one. It can not forced however ill you get. I have done other rattles but all were mere holding of the breath.
Climbers look for this feeling by exposing themselves to physical hardship, lack of food, sleep, tiredness. The analogy with the climber is a good one. Both are controversial hospital cases as they are seen to have brought on their own problems. But I would argue having to self medicate to carry out everyday things is different to climbing to experience more than the everyday.
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