Unfortunately, bankruptcy for many people comes only after poor management of their own finances and living well beyond their means with no landing cushion in the event of obstacles like salary cuts, job loss, etc.
Many people also take advantage of the bankruptcy laws to wipe the proverbial slate clean, only to run up new debt with creditors who will extend the money to them at steep interest.
There has been a lot of talk on "the hill" about re-writing the personal bankruptcy laws to make the process much more stringent.
That being said, I concur with many of the other posters here - make personal BK your last possible choice. Sell higher priced assets in favor of lower ones, even consider moving into more affordable housing, look at all your monthly fixed expenses, etc. Then, if your credit card balances are all over the place, look to a credit counselling agency(non-profit) to help you consolodate them into one payment at a lower combined interest rate.
First and foremost(if this applies to you) - dump the gas and department store cards. They're the worst interest rates. Often above 20%. If you have a MC or Visa, see if any of them will raise your limit and give you a good low rate to transfer balances. Chase Manhattan, for example, offered me 0% interest on transferred balances for a year. I did it, and am well on my way to having it paid off by the time they start tacking on interest. Citi was offering 3.9% balance transfers that would remain for the life of the balance. These are just two examples, but they are indicative of what many banks are willing to do to build up their own assets.
These steps can often make a world of difference in your disposable income each month.....