Parantumisia: Alkoholiriippuvuus
Healing from alcohol addiction
W. J. (44), Blieskastel (Germany)
I drank alcohol regularly for twenty years. Not necessarily during weekdays, but always at weekends. I went on drinking bouts. I did not drink during work hours and not because I needed to in order to cope with problems. I always avoided drinking alcohol because I became aware of my inability to think clearly afterwards and also started losing my desire for work. I drank after work.
Healing from alcohol addiction
G. F. (39), Cologne (Germany)
At 15 years of age I had already come into contact with alcohol through my friends. I often drank beer on weekends and at parties. My alcohol consumption increased continuously until I was 20, so that I was regularly drinking myself into a drunken stupor at least once a week. During my military service (1985 to 1989) my beer consumption amounted to up to 20 bottles of beer a day. At the time I wasn’t worried about addiction. For me "boozing" was just part of being a real soldier. As a "Teetotaller" you were an outsider. I can’t say exactly whether I was already dependent at that time because I was never without alcohol for longer than three days. I never drank on duty. As soon as I was off duty, however, I went straight to the supermarket with my empty bottles under my arm to buy more beer.
Healing from nicotine and alcohol addiction
J. B. (59), Bielefeld (Germany)
I smoked for approximately 33 years and at the end I smoked about 60 cigarettes a day. During the night my coughing interrupted my sleep and I became nervous and irritable. I became short of breath whenever I was under physical strain. Whenever I climbed the stairs, I had to take a break after every 10 steps.
I started to drink alcohol regularly at the age of 19, about two to three times a week. Throughout the years I gradually drank more. At the end I drank one bottle of wine or a half to one bottle of brandy every single evening. I was afraid that somebody would notice that and so I drank mostly from Friday to Sunday. In the last 5 years I had tried to quit drinking several times. But after six or seven days I began to drink again.
Healing from alcohol addiction
U. H. (33), Freising (Germany)
I drank alcohol regularly since I was 17 years old, mostly beer, generally to the point when I just couldn't drink any more. I started drinking in the morning. As I had stopped my apprenticeship and often was without a job for longer periods, my debts grew due to the alcohol consumption. Drinking made me aggressive and I had partnership problems. When I did find a job again I even drank some beer there and at home continued with up to one bottle of wine a day with some glasses of schnapps in between.
Healing from alcohol addiction of many years duration
P. B. (66), Split (Croatia)
I began to drink alcohol at the age of 17. In the course of the last two decades I gradually drank more and finally drank about two liters of alcohol (Slivovitz and brandy) a day. In 1991, at the age of 60, I stopped drinking for two years because of bleeding peptic ulcers. But after that time I continued drinking despite all those warnings: 3 glasses of Slivovitz and brandy, five bottles of beer and 2 liters of wine. I just couldn't stop it.
