landminesgirl

I don't know if it's been discussed here before, but I'm curious about people's thoughts on the hereditary nature of alcoholism. I know there's an ocean of information out there on this subject, and research points to a connection between alcoholism and genetics. But has there ever been proven science to suggest an addiction gene? What about the whole "skip a generation" idea?

My grandfather was an alcoholic (I say "was" because he has passed). He was a blatant alcoholic - belligerent, philandering, mean. My grandmother never touched a drop of alcohol. My mom (their daughter) drinks a glass and a half of wine every night, no more no less (a "habit" she started long after I was out on my own). My uncle (their son) doesn't drink at all. My brother is a very responsible social drinker, a glass or two at dinner occasionally. Up until this month, I drank very heavily for 18 years.

I would have argued that it is reasonable that children of alcoholics are more likely than children of non-alcoholics to follow that path, because that's the environment they're exposed to. In my case, my parents always demonstrated responsible drinking. They never really drank at all while I was growing up - not even at dinner until I was in college. My grandfather and I had a special relationship, but I don't really think I was around him that much while he was drunk, I only heard stories when I got older of his "problem". So I don't think my environment played a role.

I don't know what my point is, only trying to find out if I can blame my grandfather for all this. . . just kidding. But I am curious about the role genetics play in all of this. Thoughts?

MycoolFitz

There's a lot of thought out there and various research. I used to be in the business and even counceled and taught a university course so I studied and thought a lot about it. I finally came to the conclusion, for me it didn't matter, What mattered was my drinking and my becoming a sober person. I kind of shucked the other stuff and put my thoughts and actions into my recovery. I guess, for me, I'm learning to keep it focused and simple. So far, I like where I am and who I am and for now that's enough. Guess I answered around your question, I tend to do that.

doggonecarl

I think its pretty much a proven fact. But what is funny is that the only people who care about the link between genetics and alcoholism are scientists and alcoholics. For us, isn't the horse already out of the barn?

Does any non-drinker, when considering taking that very first drink, ever ask, "I wonder if I am predisposed to alcoholism because my mother/father/uncle drank?" and if so, declined to drink. No, it only seems that we drinkers, after years and years of drinking, question why. Guess what? Too late.

Reset

It probably is.

But one thing I had to get over before quitting was using that as an excuse (I'm Irish, Scottish and German) and get to why that should put me on notice instead.

I once asked a psychologist who specialized in addiction whether genetics or environment was a stronger factor and he told me, "it's all the same. If you think you have a problem there's probably something much bigger at work that needs to be addressed."

He was right.

nandm

My parents were against any alcohol use because as they told us as children/teenagers we had alcoholism that ran in our family. Of course that did not stop myself or my siblings from testing that theory. For me it held true and took me way to long to accept it. One sister is still out there drugging and drinking and has never been able to find sobriety for any length of time without relapse.

Alcoholism definitely runs in my family. On my mothers side the alcoholics that I know of are: my grandfather, my uncle, one of my aunts. I don't know any history further than that as none of my relatives past my grandmother have ever been spoken of. On my fathers side: my grandfather, and 7 of 9 of my uncles. I have no aunts. As far as history farther back I have no knowledge one way or the other once again it was not talked about. As far as my siblings go myself and one other sibling are alcoholics. My brother quite possibly is. One sister I do not know about as she has not spoken to anyone in my family for years. That is out of 5 of us.

I do know though that I have seen people on these boards who have no real family history of alcoholism and yet they are alcoholics. So I truly don't know if it is a genetic or social link, either way it is a devastating disease.

Pigtails

I'm not sure I can speak about a genetic link scientifically or anything, but here are my personal statistics, I never put a lot of this together until recently when trying to address my problem.

My mom's dad was an alcoholic. She always said that but I doubted her because she never touched alcohol and was very condemning and judgmental about it and pretty much called anyone who drank anything an alcoholic who was addicted to "liquor" (even if it was beer or wine that someonew was drinking, and even if it was in small quantities.)

But I do remember my grandfather being very short-tempered, moody, violent. I remember him starting a fist fight with my dad on New Year's Eve when I was about 7 or 8... they rolled around wrestling on the floor and knocked over the Christmas tree. I always thought it was both of their faults but I relatively recently heard the whole story, and my grandfather had pulled a knife on my dad! I remember one time he wanted to be let out of the car because he didn't want to go with us to where we were going... I think we were going to a restaurant that didn't serve alcohol and he wanted to drink, but maybe my memory is inventing that, but anyway I specifically remembering him saying to my dad who was driving "Let me out of this car" and when my dad asked him where he was going to go he said "I'm going to go to the bar and have a drink," and, he did. Another time he got really upset at Thanksgiving for no apparent reason and told my immediate family that we were the ones screwing up the holiday and if we hadn't come to visit, there would be enough room for everyone else. I don't know if that outburst was alcohol-induced or not. But he clearly had mental issues and alcohol issues. He died relatively young (about 65) after having had multiple strokes and eventually going into a coma.

My grandmother didn't drink but was extremely co-dependent on him and always came up with excuses for his behavior and babied him. It was only recently that my mom told me of experiences of her sitting up with my grandma waiting for her dad to get home from the bars. He would be drunk and beligerent and sometimes hit on my grandmother. My grandmother would tell my mom it was okay to go to bed, but my mom would be anxious and couldn't sleep because her own mom was anxious. I didn't realize until recently how much of a bad effect my mom's dad's drinking had on her life-- no wonder she was so against alcohol.

My dad's dad and a lot of his many siblings have alcohol or drug dependence problems. Fairly recently I was visiting my grandmother on my dad's side (my only living grandparent) and she told my sister and me to be careful with alcohol because all of that side of the family are alcoholics and they sneak alcohol. She said, and I remember this all the time, "The minute you take one sip of alcohol, you're in trouble, because alcoholism is in your blood." My grandma is really mentally unstable (but doesn't drink) and prone to lying so I kind of dismissed it at the time but now I think she is right about this one.

My dad didn't drink at all while we were growing up because of religious reasons and wanting to not be like his family members. He started drinking beer with my brother at local breweries when my brother was in college and now he's a huge fan of wine. He will sometimes a drink a bottle a night in the basement and fall asleep watching old sitcoms. I have worried about him mostly because of his blatant denial-- he claims he has never been drunk, he claims he never drinks more than a drink or two, when clearly his actions show otherwise. One time when he and I were on vacation he insisted on driving after we were at a bar, and was driving on the wrong side of the road but refused to admit he had had too much to drink! I thought he was just going through a late-blooming college frat boy stage since he never got to because of us kids, or that he was having a mid-life crises, but I don't think it's improved much and it's been years.

My two adults siblings and I, when we drink, we often drink big... a lot of drinks all at once until we are doing crazy things or fighting or crying or passing out... so I would say we all had issues with drinking before I realized how big of an issue I really have with it. I'm not quite sure about my sister, she occasionally over-indulges but seems overall stable. My brother stopped drinking about two years ago when he got married... we made fun of him at the time for being "whipped" by his suddenly even more than before conservative wife, but I think he realized it was causing him problems with their relationship (they would always fight when drunk, she would cry over-sensitively and he would be a jerk to her), and with his stress levels and sleeping issues. So in retrospect it was a very good decision for him and I'm sorry I gave him a hard time about it. I am just realizing a lot of this stuff recently.

My ex fiance had parents who were alcoholics and drug addicts when he was growing up, then they recovered and are long-term AA leaders. I believe he had issues with drinking and he has wondered out loud whether he does. We both did, but only now am I addressing them and we have been broken up for a year. I am still friends with him and don't think he's addressing it but I think he's thinking about it more frequently. It was the same kind of thing as with my siblings... us drinking too much at once and fighting, me crying or being over-sensitive, sometimes mean to him for no reason, and him being really mean for no reason... not a good combination. Eventually we figured out if I didn't drink shots/ Long Islands and he didn't drink Jack Daniels, we wouldn't have as many crazy episodes, but still, we had issues. By the end he was pleading with me to stop drinking so much, to just come home and be with him, but I wanted out and was escaping by drinking. So by the end I definitely had a bigger "problem" that he did but I do think he has issues with it, maybe because he's genetically pre-disposed (although his sister is a normal social drinker, if at all). I did not grow up around any alcohol, in fact was taught it was an evil sin. So I don't know how that all correlates but there you go.

It is definitely interesting to think about but I'm not sure how far it gets us. I know scientifically there is a bigger probability of being an alcoholic if your parents or other relatives were but I'm not sure how much of it is genetic and how much is environmental. I think there is a genetic component and it seems to be more prevalent in situtions where there is also mental illness. But that's just my anecdotal observations, no scientific studies to back it up or anything.

ajangel

Funny you should bring this up. My 22 year old daughter and I have discussed this in great length. If this is the case. She is screwed. My father, my brothers, my grandfathers, her father, her grandmother, her aunt are all alcoholics. She likes to party once in awhile but at least now, she understands her risks.

EmeraldRose

I am far from being a scientist and I don't think they have all the answers...But I think children that are predisposed to drinkers are more likely to be drinkers. In that situation I think its more the way they are brought up and the habits that are created in the family.
It is hard to say if a child will be an alcoholic because Uncle Louie is a drunk or because there is no positive reinforcement in the childs life to encourage him otherwise.
I think sometimes using former generations as an excuse can give us a kind of closure on our own reasons in becoming a drinker.
However, being adopted into a family that does not drink, I have drank all my adult life. My parents did not go out and drink, sit at bars, stumble home or vomit in the hallway...yet, I have managed to indulge in alcoholism. I never, in my 47 years, ever saw my Mother drink or my Dad drink more than a couple beers. But his sister was an alcoholic and was in AA for many years.
My brother who is also adopted doesn't drink...so I can't say if its because I had alcoholism in my biological family tree or just because I made poor choices and created bad habits. Who knows? And I can't worry about it at this point of my life or my sobriety. Sobriety is a choice I made not my 'relatives'.

Itchy

I believe it is passed down from drink to drink.

LaFemme

I know a guy who has it pretty heavily in his family...when he was about 12 a cousin died in his early 20's of alcohol and the grandmother asked him at the funeral never to drink...to this day he hasn't...he is 28.

If I have kids I will do everything in my power to impress upon them that alcohol is not desirable especially for someone with my gene pool.