Alcohol doesn't discriminate in its deadly grip. You could be a mild mannered editor like me, or one of the great songwriters like Benny Andersson of Abba: it has a tight grip and it won't let go.
This is what Benny said on Swedish TV "When it's about the difficult battle against addiction, it doesn't matter who you are. I wasn't feeling well without alcohol, so I knew that I was in trouble. I sought help and I got it. I knew that if I continued drinking there was a risk I would lose everything. If you drink enough for a long enough time, you will lose things."
According to canoe.ca: Andersson made the TV appearance with his singer son Ludvig, who has also fought against substance abuse demons.
His song said, "When you have genes and you are putting as much effort into it as I was, it's possible to drink and get addicted pretty quickly. In addition, if you take a lot of other drugs, as I was doing, the process goes even faster."
There is only one way to beat alcohol if you are an alcoholic and that's by not drinking. It is the only cure. And for those of us with alcohol abuse problems, it is telling when we hear of yet another person who realizes that all he has to lose is everything.
Benny has been sober since 2001
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