Viktor, 27, recovered from the addiction after ten years: "I did not want to die"

Viktor Ahlgren, 27, lives today in Jämjö, the community where he grew up, together with his partner.

He is studying to be a social educator at the folk high school in Jämshög and describes life as "calm and pleasant".

In February, he has been drug-free for six years.

- It feels absolutely fantastic, he says.

Tested cannabis

The first time he came in contact with drugs, he was around 13 years old.

He tested cannabis and got stuck quickly.

He felt that he had a connection and a community that he lacked.

- I no longer felt alone.

I fit in and people accepted me.

I had drugs so people wanted to be with me, he says.

When he was 16, he moved to Karlskrona and made new contacts in the drug world.

He started with amphetamines and his addiction escalated.

- I took amphetamine and felt that I was collected and not as scattered in my head as I was in my youth.

Chaos everyday

Soon, drugs became part of everyday life and a way to turn off anxiety.

As he approached his 20s, he described life as truly chaotic.

When he had finally ended up in a detention cell with the police, the thought arose of quitting.

- When I was in the detention bed there, I thought: "What the hell am I doing?", He says.

Some time later, he was ready to recover from the addiction and called his parents for help.

This was followed by a revolutionary year in which Viktor, after being in a treatment home, would start a whole new life without his old friends and without drugs.

"Dare to tell"

With a strong will to succeed and with the help of other people, he managed to start a new life.

Dare to ask for help.

You can not climb any mountain alone.

You need to surround yourself with people who understand you and dare to tell them about your problem.

The problem for me was not just the drugs.

The problem for me was that I could not handle a single feeling I had in my body, he says.

Today he chooses to see his experience as an asset.

- I have chosen to study to be a social educator to be able to use my experiences and help other people in society who are having difficulty.