faefae44

Like I've said in my other post, 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

zrx1200R

I don't claim to know the science. But here is what living with a drunk for 20 years has taught me:

I believe strongly there is an "alcoholic gene", or chemical imbalance that is passed on. Not every child will have it. But many will. Some have it and choose to never drink. So it doesn't really manifest itself.

Others never drink, yet because they grew up with a drunk they imitate the behavior and become just like their parent. But many never make the connection.

I've seen this first hand. Grandpa A is a drunk. His son, chooses not to drink. Yet has many of the behavior issues of an alcoholic. Not the really bad ones. Just many of the ones that make everyone around the guy miserable. His son has never been exposed to active drinking in the home. He's grown up hearing his whole life the evils of booze and it killed his grandfather before the grandson was born.

The son then grows up, dabbles in drinking as a young man and quickly becomes a full blown alcoholic. But doesn't understand, hides it from his dad, and passes the gene and behavior down to his kids. And it keeps going.

bookwyrm

There is an alcoholic gene. It doesn't mean that you're guaranteed to BE an alcoholic, it just gives you a predisposition towards alcoholism, I think. Where other people may drink heavily and then just stop without becoming addicted, someone with the gene will become addicted. I'd recommend reading Under the Influence - I found it really useful in giving me the 'facts' about the disease. Others have also recommended Beyond the Influence as it has more up to date scientific information in it.

Shirt423

I believe it to be hereditary, and shows up more in males. Every male from my mothers side of the family has addiction problems, not just alcohol, but drugs and gambling as well. The women are all fine. It is sad. I do believe it to be a disease. The doctor's opinion in my AA book says it is a physical allergy. Ironic though, people I know with allergies to peanuts or mushrooms or anything like that do whatever they can to stay away from it. Alcoholics who admit they are allergic to alcholol will continue to consume it. That is the insanity.

lillamy

I have told my children that it doesn't matter whether there is an alcoholic gene or whether drinking is a learned behavior -- because their father is an alcoholic, and they spent their formative years with an alcoholic as well as got half their genetic material from one, they need to be aware that they might be at an increased risk of alcoholism, should they choose to drink.

Cyranoak

Look, there's no question it runs in families. None whatsoever, and the research showing this is readily available and not controversial. There is also research showing that there are genetic traits that predispose people more towards alcoholism-- most frequently cited are Native Americans as having this gene.

Having said all of that, I would argue that "nurture" has as much or more to do with this as "nature" does, and there are plenty of people who carry these genes and ARE NOT alcoholics. I know only two Native Americans personally and one drinks socially and responsibly and the other is a recovering alcoholic, but he's been sober since 1970. He probably has the gene, but his force of will and deep engagement with AA has kept him sober for over 40 years (he's 77).

Bottom line? It doesn't actually matter. It's a family disease and for the family to recover the family must engage with recovery. And, for individuals, if you have a problem with alcohol you have a problem with alcohol. If you don't, you don't.

It's on each of us individually to take care of ourselves in terms of recovery. If we do that, then we may be able to also help others in our families also find recovery. We can't do it for them, but we can demonstrate it to them, help it be accessible to them, and go from there. We can lead them to water, but we can't make them drink.

Take care, take what you want, and leave the rest.

Cyranoak

slugger9787

People do not get an altered state of consciousness from peanuts, mushrooms, or poison ivy.

Everyone, social drinkers AND alcoholics get an altered state of consciousness from alcohol.

The difference is in the ability to control, which originates in the will.

Social drinkers retain their will, alcoholics do not.

IF left alone 35/36 alcoholics will drink themselves to death, in an insane attempt to impose their will (power), to control their drinking just like they perhaps used to but even at this stage they see social drinkers exercizing control, so they think just one more time and I will control it.

Chino

False!

That is one of the biggest fallacies floating around out there. It's a very sore subject with me because I'm indigenous:

Native Americans and Alaskan Natives are five times more likely than other ethnicities in the United States to die of alcohol-related causes. Native Americans are predisposed to alcoholism because of differences in the way they metabolize alcohol. In this article, Dr. Cindy L. Ehlers examines studies that test this hypothesis. Individuals can be protected against or predisposed to alcoholism by variations in the enzymes that metabolize alcohol (i.e., alcohol dehydrogenase [ADH] and aldehyde dehydrogenase [ALDH]). Dr. Ehlers examines the frequency with which these variants occur in one particular group of Native Americans, the Southwest California Indians. The findings suggest that it is unlikely that Native Americans carry a genetic variant that predisposes them to alcoholism. Certain variants of ADH and ADLH do have a protective affect against alcoholism in some Native American people; however, these findings do not explain the high incidence of alcoholism in the tribes that were studied.

NIAAA Publications

underoath

I don't know. But after I ended up in rehab and let the cat out the bag, I soon found out many relatives of mine were addicts, alcoholics, smugglers, dealers... of course I knew who the family drunks were, and I had my suspicions about the ones who used illicit drugs. But the extent and the long line of addicts was new to me. My parents drink but not necessarily alcoholically. (it's debatable though). I heard stories from my grandfather about my dad when he was my age that really surprised me, and stories about active alcoholics (my great grandmother of 90 years, turns out she was always drunk, I assumed she just acted that way because of her stroke) stories about distant relatives fleeing the country because drug lords and the DEA want them dead or alive... and just stories about the relatives that I never would have guessed had a problem... so yeah.... but I do know that almost everyone has an alcoholic or addict in the family, if you don't know about it it's probably because it's just one of those things people don't talk about over dinner at the family reunion. Just like I'm sure no one knows about my problems except for a select few. Remember though, the drinks and drugs are only a symptom of the real problem. That's why the psychic change is so important.

Verbena

Chino is correct. And, there is no alcoholic gene.

If you want to understand the medical science, read the book Beyond The Influence. This is an updated version of Under The Influence published about 30 years ago. It has newer neuro/brain science as of 2000.

It's an important book because it explains what's happening in the brains and other bodily organs of alcoholics. It helped me become more understanding and less judgmental. No, I'm not going to let my AH bully me or run my life. I'm not a martyr. I rarely have an angry day anymore. I am in control of my life.

Two months ago I was clearly in the "Alcoholism is not a disease camp." I was wrong about that. When you have screwed up brain chemistry, you are diseased.

That "alcoholic gene" myth is still around after a national television news editor misinterpreted a scientific study.

Chino posted this: Native Americans are predisposed to alcoholism because of differences in the way they metabolize alcohol. My understanding is that anyone who "inherits" alcoholism has differences in the way they metabolize alcohol.

My husband (not Native American) is an alcoholic, his mother was and I suspect his grandfather was also. He'd stopped drinking before I met him. Alcoholism can "run in" families as they say, but what's passed on is differences in how some people metabolize alcohol. In my husband's generation only he and one sister are alcoholics out of six children.

None of my three sons (ages 33, 38, 40) drink. Are any alcoholics?
Statistics are against them but fortunately none have taken up drinking.

Alcoholics who inherit this difference in how they metabolize alcohol are much more likely to become alcoholics if they drink than the general population. They have a much harder time giving up alcohol and staying sober than those have "acquired" alcoholism by drinking too much too often.

Cyranoak

"Native Americans are predisposed to alcoholism because of differences in the way they metabolize alcohol"

I apologize for also saying it was a gene when I meant to say trait. Metabolizing alcohol differently is, in fact, a genetic trait. Although, frankly, I think it's splitting hairs to get caught up in whether the way you metabolize alcohol is a trait or a gene. It ultimately doesn't make one bit of difference. It's still a fact that you metabolize alcohol differently if you possess this "trait."

And, not that it matters, my wife is indigenousness too. 100 percent. Alcoholism runs rampant through both sides of her family.

Again, my apologies.

Cyranoak

slugger9787

nurture vs nature
genetic vs learned
cucumber turns into pickle due to excessive visits to vinegar
cause vs solution
utilize the solution vs analyze the disease

fourmaggie

*giggles* but that is the truth too....

*waves --hello cynical one* nice to see ya

sunshine321

"Using willpower to control addiction is like using willpower to control diarrhea."

Love this quote. So very true! I will use this as an analogy to the non-believers when they are trying to understand this disease.

Peace,
Jen

NYCDoglvr

It's both genetic and learned behavior. The majority of alcoholics come from an alcoholic home. I suggest staying as far away from booze as possible. It's a terrible disease to have.

theuncertainty

I really like the way Cynical One put it.

After XAH went into an in-patient program (I'd been part of their family for nearly 16 years by then), his sister finally told me that every one of their mother's siblings died from alcohol related issues.

XAH's father, though, thinks that every one should be able to just not drink, so he basically indulged, or nudge-nudge/wink-winked, XAH's drinking at a very young age. XFIL would throw wild parties and XAH would sneak out afterwards and 'empty' whatever was left in the glasses. When XAH got a little older, XFIL stopped storing his beer in the fridge thinking that having the beer warm would stop XAH and his friends from drinking it. Even after the rehab stint, XFIL was still retelling those stories with a kind of proud-dad-tone. (Dear god, I should have run the first time I heard them!)

XAH's niece is also an alcoholic, but her mom (XAH's sister) is/was a lot more vocal about drinking being an unacceptable means of coping - at least with her daughter (not so much with her brother). I don't think it's much of a coincidence that XAH's niece seems to be a hundred times more involved in pursuing recovery than her uncle is (or isn't, as the case may be).

slugger9787

why is my house on fire and burning to the ground you ask?
Is is because my fathers mothers uncle's house was on fire in the past!
Or my mothers sisters aunt's house was on fire in the past!
Or is it because my fathers house was secretly on fire from 1955 to 1963?

My advice is put the fire out and quit playing with matches and gasoline.