faefae44

I have a lot of alcoholics in my family (mostly on my dads side, including my father). I hardly ever touch the stuff but every once in a while if I'm really stressed or depressed, I have a strong urge to just get smashed. I've never indulged that urge, but it still scares me that I have those urges in the first place.

Is this because addiction in my blood or is it because it's what my dad does and I grew up watching him do that for years?

Thank you

GingerM

It may be a combination of both. There is a gene that's been isolated that seems highly correlated to people with addictive behaviors (though the addiction could be gambling, sex, drugs, work etc. - it does not have to be alcohol. It is the behavior that manifests from the gene, not necessarily the focus of the behavior).

It could also be having that behavior modeled for you as you grew up. We absorb our parents' way of being in the world as children and we learn that that is the acceptable way of existing in the world. UNlearning that takes time, dedication and effort. Many people find it easier to just go with it.

Either way, good for you for not indulging your urges!

dbh

I too think that people can be genetically predisposed to certain conditions, be it an addiction or a mental illness. I think a condition can manifest itself due to environmental conditions, like growing up in a dysfunctional home.

I often watch the television show "Intervention". When they are reviewing the addict's live there is usually some trauma, indecent, or general messed up family condition that causes the addict to turn to their drug of choice.

I think that children do sometimes mimic the behavior of the adults in their life. It's still hard for me to believe sometimes that you can turn into exactly what you wanted to avoid as a child, but it happens all the time. Children that are abused grow up to be abusers. Unless someone makes a conscience effort to heal from their past, the past tends to repeat itself.

In my opinion, some behavior is also learned simply because of the nature of a dysfunctional home. When you look through the list of traits/tendencies of an adult child, many of these traits are healthy responses to an unhealthy environment.

For example, my need to control or at least feel like I have control probably kept me sane as a child. My home environment was chaotic and unpredictable. So instead of admitting that I had no control (which would have been even scarier), my "child-self" chose to believe that I had control but just hadn't figured out the right combination yet.

I was in my forties before I truly realized that I had absolutely NO CONTROL over whether my father drank or not. It was such a hard think for me to admit.

I don't really get an urge to "get smashed", but I do still get an urge to zone out, avoid reality, or distract myself with another problem. During these times, I try to ask myself what it is I'm actually trying to avoid.

Thanks for bringing up the topic and for letting me share.

db

SSIL75

I am an ACOA and also an alcoholic (sober 8 mos). I believe my alcoholism is in part because of how I grew up. Not my genes but my environment. I grew up believing things about alcohol that simply aren't true.

It kind of makes me sad that my dad used to always warn us about our 'genes' and how we had to be careful. In reality the fact that alcohol was (is) a huge part of their lives did way more damage. I never realized you could have a fun life without alcohol.

JustAYak

It is largely affected by how we grew up, especially if their is an addict in the environment in which we grew up in, however I believe it has been proven that genetics does play into it as well. It runs in a family, so generally speaking, it runs in the genes. It's classified as a "disease" by many, and many diseases are hereditary, I don't think this one is all that different from the rest. Addiction is also part of personality type, and personality types are also shown to be somewhat genetic (this is why bipolar disorder can be influenced by genetics), so I believe addiction is also genetic.

justjo

MMMmmm, who knows for sure,

My family is a classic 'addiction' farmhouse (OK Im being sarcastic now). I have lost family to alcoholism but there are many other types of addicts too.
I think addicts come from many abroad type of families, all types of religions/environments/cultures/living conditions & worlds. All people react differently to all types of situations/problems/happiness. I dont think you can say - my father is a _____, therefore thats why I am.
In my country, alcohol is a suitably, accepted, social way of life. You can buy it anywhere and its advertised.
I think there could be many debates about this topic!
JJ