Jussi Kinnunen remembers drinking his first drink at the age of nine. It must have been New Year’s, the parents were away from home, and someone of age had picked up a group of boys for a mean snack.
Later, alcohol became part of the job. At the age of 17, Jussi was able to play the bass Ismo Alangon to pilot Hassisen Kone. The band had risen in popularity like a rocket, and there was a lot of intoxicants in music circles. Jussi used it because that was the custom. If playing was frankly scary, alcohol masked the feeling.
After Hassisen Kone, other bands came. In 1988, Jussi got a bassist position in Freud Marx Engels & Jung, where drugs were consumed even more.
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Short sober periods always ended with a trip. In the end, the drinking was so severe that at the age of 34, the bassist’s liver was failing.
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– The alternatives were getting sober or death. When I got out of the hospital from the drips, I applied again to peer groups and then to Myllyhoito.
Jussi considers his sobriety to have started on February 15, 1997. Since then, he has not touched intoxicants. For the first three years sober, he went to peer groups every day. Jussi describes it as a terrible dune, but it was by no means a forced bun. The groups felt good.
Side by side for a while
The change also led Juss to a new profession: he started studying to become a substance abuse therapist. Now it’s been a quarter of a century in the industry. My own background, therapies, studies and years as a substance abuse therapist have clarified one thing for Jussi Kinnuse.
– Getting sober is a journey of self-discovery. I’m starting to explore what I’m really like when the drugs are no longer messing around. What can I stand and what can’t I stand, what do I like?
In January, many remain without a drop. Jussi advises that during that time you should keep a diary in which you reflect on the thoughts that the period evoked. That way, it might develop into something other than just gritting your teeth, wondering when February will come and the chance to climb again.
– It is a fallacy that not drinking would make life boring. I know from my own experience that the same feelings can be achieved in a significantly more modest way. Sobriety is liberating,” says Jussi.
In addition to his work as a substance abuse therapist, Juss still keeps busy with music. We are working on a long-playing record with the band Freud Marx Engels & Jung Revisited, which was founded in 2022 at the initiative of Juss. There’s also a gig.
– Calling face to face can still be really stressful and scary sometimes. But then when you make a mistake and realize that the world doesn’t fall, it’s insanely liberating.
Read more about Jussi Kinnusen’s thoughts on sobriety in Hyvä tervey magazine issue 1/2025.
As a subscriber, you can read all issues free of charge from the digilehdet.fi service.
Source: www.hyvaterveys.fi
