Every alcoholic needs to hit rock-bottom to generate the energy to propel them through the Twelve Steps, but a rock-bottom is not a confluence of unpleasant circumstances or a near-death experience. A rock-bottom is the realisation that, left to my own devices, I will drink, and if I drink, I might never stop; that I have a condition that is progressive and potentially fatal; and that I'm doomed unless a fundamental change occurs within me, a change I cannot bring about myself.
This can be brought about by terrible events or an internal collapse, but some people die of alcoholism without having this rock-bottom experience, and some people have this rock-bottom experience without having to lose everything. In other words, the rock-bottom is a set of insights, which can be fostered by attending AA for a while, and an alcoholic need not wait helplessly until the rock-bottom occurs spontaneously as the result of catastrophic personal loss.
This can be brought about by terrible events or an internal collapse, but some people die of alcoholism without having this rock-bottom experience, and some people have this rock-bottom experience without having to lose everything. In other words, the rock-bottom is a set of insights, which can be fostered by attending AA for a while, and an alcoholic need not wait helplessly until the rock-bottom occurs spontaneously as the result of catastrophic personal loss.