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.

It all started innocently in bars for youths and discos. The use of alcohol was a widely accepted way of life. This was the same where I used to live. Everybody boasted about how much he was able to tolerate. The table was sometimes covered with beer glasses each filled to the edge. The glasses were quickly emptied and then refilled. In the mornings most of the time I was unable to recall what had happened the night before and had a bad conscience.

The situation got progressively worse

I avoided drinking alcohol when I went for a drive in my motor car. I once drove under the influence and was promptly caught. A motor accident with fatal consequences for my passenger would have had a sobering effect on me (would have served as a salutary shock), but, on the contrary, the situation got progressively worse. My weekends always started on Thursdays evenings and went on until Sunday evenings. We often carried on boozing through the night sometimes sleeping for a short while and then carried on drinking. It is well known that alcohol causes drinkers to lose their inhibitions and affairs with women and illnesses became part of the situation.

When I suffered from stomach ache, brandy was used for treatment. My medical practitioner diagnosed later that my liver was severely affected by the alcohol. He did not prescribe medication, but said that the liver would recover over time if the intake of alcohol were to be discontinued. I needed a drink to recover from that shock. On another occasion, I had a fall in winter when highly inebriated, almost freezing to death. All the alcohol related episodes in my life could fill a book.

No withdrawal symptoms

I came to learn about the teaching of Bruno Gröning for the first time in a leaflet and was introduced two days later on 31 August 1996. I could relate to the teaching from the start and immediately started doing einstellen on the Heilstrom twice daily.

Two months later, on 31 October 1996, I met up with two friends and we went out for a "drink“. I drank more than I had done in a long time. On the way home, I suffered a heavy fall breaking both my front teeth. The following morning, I finally came to realize that I couldn't carry on like this anymore and decided never to touch alcohol again.

This I managed to achieve immediately with the help of Bruno Gröning. During einstellen I had asked for it from the bottom of my heart. From that day on, I never touched alcohol again, nor did I suffer from withdrawal symptoms. This has remained the same until today. I now have an intense dislike for alcohol and render my support in the fight against all addictions. I only realized three years later, when giving my assistance to the support group for the rehabilitation of drinkers, that I also had a problem with alcohol.

Psychologist’s comment:

Mr. J. has to be classified as a regular opportunity drinker with psychological addiction as well as social complications. Most of the time therapy for this type of addiction is without success as often there is a lack of understanding for the illness and the feeling of severe addiction. The pressure of suffering for these people consists in a continuously decreasing mental and physical wellness which they perceive and which frightens them. Although they feel a desperate desire to stop the mental and physical decay, they are incapable to change their addiction. The self-awareness about the negative effects of alcohol and the ability to totally stop drinking therefore have to be considered as extremely unusual. Without the absorption of the divine healing power according to the teaching of Bruno Gröning and its effect, this very strength demanding process of getting free can't be explained psychologically.
U.T., Psychologist