Healing from drug dependence

E. H. (44), Forbach (France)

As a youth I was often alone and unhappy. At 16 I became the drummer in a rock band. For ten years we traveled all over France. With the music also came drugs, first cannabis, hashish and LSD. At 19 it was finally heroin, cocaine and amphetamines. Every day I would already be high on drugs early in the morning. Then there was also alcohol. It went so far that I had to give up my music. I simply wasn't up to it any more.

I hit rock bottom

So there I was at 30 without a job and completely penniless. To satisfy my addiction I needed between 800 and 1000 Francs daily. I would steal money whenever possible. The addiction had hardened me to the extent that I pilfered most of it from parents and family. When that no longer sufficed I became a dealer myself. The police caught me, and I was in prison for twelve months. In addition to ten withdrawal cures, I underwent four in-patient courses of therapy, each one year long. Although I struggled against the addiction I kept having relapses. Through my grandmother, an artist, I was attracted to art. She taught me painting, sculpture and the fine arts, and I later worked as a draftsman for an advertising agency. I worked for a while in an association for the support of young drug addicts. I introduced them to various kinds of painting. I would pull myself together during the day. I was thus very nervous and it was only the expectation that I would get my drugs in the evening that calmed me down somewhat. I wanted to hide my addiction from the teenagers at all costs. Starting in 1996 I wanted to earn my living as a painter. I sought my inspiration again in drugs - cannabis, hashish and cocaine - but beer, too, always had to be at hand. My painting was sad and gloomy, and I had little success. As is often the case in this scene, my artist's agent was also my drug supplier. In 1998 I realized that I wanted out of that. I began to read a lot of esoteric books.

First contact

In the spring of 2002, I was introduced to the teaching of Bruno Gröning. A community hour followed and, although my mind raised many objections, I felt drawn to this Circle of Friends. My life went on as before, with a lot of beer and drugs. After my second community hour in May, 2002, I suddenly felt physically free from any need to take drugs or alcohol.

A new person

After I had begun to regularly do einstellen twice a day to receive the Heilstrom*, my entire life changed. By July of 2002 I had already separated myself from my artist's agent and set up a studio in my mother's house. From one day to the next my painting became more alive and varied and even spiritual to some extent, and new colors appeared as needed. In 2003 I participated in an art exhibition in Switzerland. I had previously only copied the pictures of other artists; now I paint my own pictures. Today my life is full of joy and I perceive a very pleasant inner peace.

Psychologist's opinion:

Mr. Haven describes a severe dependence on drugs and alcohol that lasted for 20 years and involved almost daily drug use accompanied by the usual side effects of drug-related crime and the inability to work (as a musician). Ten withdrawal cures and four in-patient withdrawal therapies, each more than one year in duration, were unsuccessful. Mr. Haven adapted his life to the drugs by helping drug addicts during the day and consuming drugs himself in the evening. The prognosis in such a situation is virtually hopeless. Therefore from a psychological standpoint it cannot be explained how he was able to completely discontinue all drug and alcohol consumption in the spring of 2002 within a few weeks after introduction to the teaching of Bruno Gröning. Since then he has been in a position to lead a stable, drug-free life and obtain professional success as a painter. The chronological and obviously causal connection between the absorption of the Heilstrom and the healing from a drug addiction of long years' duration are therefore unmistakable for me.