You’ve seen it in movies and read about it in books- the dangers of quicksand and how it can kill unsuspecting travelers. In reality, quicksand doesn’t work the way it does in the media- it’s not a death by sinking to the bottom and drowning. What kills people who get stuck in quicksand isn’t that they drown, it’s that they can’t get out without help. Quicksand traps the person and there is not usually anything close enough for a person to use to get themselves out. The person trapped may try to free themselves on their own, but researchers have shown that the person trapped would need the same strength to pull themselves out as they would need to lift a medium-sized automobile. The only way to get free from the quicksand is with help.
Similarly, someone drowning in addiction may believe that they can get out of the quicksand by themselves. However, the physics of quicksand teaches us differently. The person trapped in the quicksand of addiction needs someone else to pull them out. Someone on a higher, more sure footing, is going to have to help them get out. Sometimes, it may take more than one person to pull them out.
There are some steps to getting out of the quicksand. First, the person trapped in the quicksand has to acknowledge that they are truly stuck and cannot get out on their own. Secondly, they are going to have to ask for help. It is important to ask for help from someone on stable ground. This is a person who can be your accountability partner. This person won’t just pull you out of the quicksand, but will help you from falling back in. Third, the person stuck in the quicksand is going to have to reach out and hold onto whatever sticks or ropes they are being handed to get out. Whatever tools they are being given to aid in recovery are important, and it is necessary to grab onto them and hold fast.
Once a person is out of the quicksand, one of the keys to ongoing survival is to avoid falling back into the quicksand in the future. Rarely, if ever, will a person die in addiction quicksand if they have someone willing to help them out of the hole.