In the series "How are things now" we talk with former patients about the period they started treatment at Castle Craig. They tell about their experiences and how things are going now. The names have been changed, but their stories are real.
Robert (25) 2015
The first thing I heard during the group sessions at the castle was that I was full of anger. I thought it was clever that people saw that. Because I didn't notice at all. 'I? Full of anger? ”I responded in amazement. I was always called softie and anger in my view belonged to people who strongly expressed their opinion.
Because my father was also an alcoholic and my mother had died early from the dreaded disease, I ended up in the Children Of Dysfunctional Parents group. There I learned to understand where that restrained anger came from. My father hit me when I was a toddler and that has never passed all the time I lived in the parental home. I had repressed those memories. As if they had never existed. One day my therapist said to me, “Addiction can be in the genes. But no matter how you turn or turn it: you tried to numb your anger at what was done to you with drinking. '
Robert (29) 2020
'My father passed away two years ago. I heard that from an old neighbor. Because my dad and I had lost contact. I went to his grave a year ago. To put down a flower. After I did, I spoke to the grave, “Dad, I forgive you for everything you did to me. I'm sure you hated it yourself. But you didn't know any better. You were an alcoholic. When I said goodbye to my therapist in Scotland, he said to me, “Don't forget. You don't forgive for the one you forgive, but for yourself. ' Next month I will be clean & sober for five years. '