zorah

sometimes i hear people say that they were born alcoholics, and they cite attitudes and behaviors from childhood that verify the fact that they were already set up for the inevitable. ok, so i understand completely that people's genetic makeup, environment, life choices, etc. etc. can set them up for alcohol addiction. i also know from personal experience that when i took my first drink there was this resounding "click" that people talk about--the missing piece I'd always needed to do life.... but the behaviors discussed in aa meetings never seem uniquely alcoholic at all. i know many non-alcoholics who have the same and even worse traits and behaviors. Maybe alcoholics as group have more of these traits than the general population, but i think it's stretching it a bit to somehow suggest that you're an alcoholic straight out of the womb, don't you think?

I think this is probably a case, for me, to take what I need and leave the rest.



Zorah

tomsteve

I think this is probably a case, for me, to take what I need and leave the rest

this is wise advise. so many ways to look at it and variables. my girlfreind, who is also a recovering addict/alcoholic, was born drunk on a pool table. she was born with the disease active in her.

now for me, i believe i was born an alcoholic. i had the emotional and mental traits before i picked up a drink.

UpperbucksAAguy

I try not to read too much into my pre drinking behavior. That seems more like a job for a shrink

awuh1

I could not agree more with you that there is no such thing as an “alcoholic personality”. I do however believe that there are some people so genetically predisposed that they have no ability to control their drinking from the very first drink. These individuals don’t have a “bad” or alcoholic personality, but in my view, a faulty way of processing alcohol.

Then there are those who need to drink for many decades to cross the “invisible line” that leaves them powerless over the first drink.

Finally , there are all shades of gray in between. Folks brought to powerlessness through various combinations of environmental genetic, and personality characteristics.

What I find facinating is that they all can do well in AA.

sugarbear1

I think the difference between an alcoholic and the non-alcoholic is that "when i took my first drink there was this resounding "click" that people talk about--the missing piece I'd always needed to do life" and for the non-alcoholic, they must find a different solution to their situation(s).

aeo1313

I don't know about being born an alcoholic, but I had traits before my first drink. At 13 I suffered from anorexia and bulimia (same stinkin thinkin in that disorder). At 17 hospitalized for depression and suicide attempt. Went to college and took up smoking pot and drinking to excess. During periods of sobriety in adult life I have suffered horribly from anger and depression.

Finally at 36 I am going to learn to live life with no crutches.

omegasupreme

On rare occasion I here of folks that were addicted to drugs/alcohol in the womb combined with the feeding of alcohol to them as a child, and then growing into adulthood never really ever having breathed a sober breath.

Theresa F. identifies in the manner described above...her story can be heard at the link below.

Benchmark Recovery Center Speakers | Texas Drug Rehab Center | Addiction Recovery | Alcohol Treatment Austin

I grasp the point from the OP, this is one of the few possible exceptions I have stumbled upon.

Veritas1

Bill W. talks about warping our minds into an obsession for destructive drinking.

I can identify with that.

I believe I warped my brain with drinking.

I don't believe I was born with a warped brain.

~

As Mickey B. says....

You can be born with physical allergy, but not mental obsession.

omegasupreme

Our text book also refers to the real alcoholic as the man or woman that has lost the power of choice in drink. If I am in a womb and the mother ingests alcohol or drugs then I have no power around whether or not I choose to use. Same with alcohol being slipped into baby formula...and then boom I wake up one day and realize I can't stop on my own. Not only did I lose the power of choice, I would have never had it.

Part of me is only posting this out of boredom...the fact of the matter is that either I got this deal or I don't...and if I have it then what am I going to do about it?

muvinon

I personally agree with Bucks on this one. This is "therapy/behavior science" stuff. I grew up with 2 alcoholic parents who died from the illness, so I personally am and was super aware of the dangers....

And one day, in middle-age, I said "screw it." I drank for relief. I suspect that is the very day I really crossed the line.

But even that? Who knows?

I sort of like admitting to myself......"heck if I know."

Lily

I believe I was because I had very compulsive behavior prior to even ever taking that first drink. I was a food addict and I was very sneaky and rebellious. I can even remember seeing the movie Sarah T. the portrait of a teenaged alcohlolic on TV starring Linda Blair and thinking it was sad. Not because she was an alcoholic, but because I understood she had crossed that line and could never drink again. I was only 12 but had been drunk several times and loved it. So thinking back into my childhood mind, I would have to say YES.

Today I am a grateful recovered alcoholic as I no longer have the obsession of the mind to drink alcohol.
Lily

CarolD

Hmm..
Unless you ingested alcohol in the womb...I dom't think anyone
is born an alcoholic.

I hear all sorts of shares in AA and even in the book that do not
apply to me. That does not mean that I'm not an alcoholic...

It also has no bearing on how I stay an AA recovered one...
living with God and the Steps works great for me...

zorah

Thanks for comments. I'm very early in recovery and I'm noticing right now that I tend to zero in on any comment or minor event I don't like in a meeting in order to convince myself that I don't belong in the program. Reading your responses helped. If I'm honest, what's the big deal if someone thinks they were born alcoholic or not? More important, why am I spending time on this question? The point is I am an alcoholic now and need help.

Honesty is good.


Zorah

omegasupreme

That awareness rocks! I sat in meetings forever nitpicking stuff to death and nearly walked out on AA over all the resentments I had created via such behavior.

Lily

I am going to retract what I said. I was driving around today thinking about it and what lead me to alcoholism was choices. Bad ones at that and my need to control others.

sugarbear1

I still think my brain has always been "wired differently."

mfsteve1

In my case, I would go with "predisposition" to alcohol. I've tried about every other drug and alcohol was the one that snagged me for life.

Tommyh

alcoholic,a diseased condition brought about by drinking alcohol

it is impossible to be born a alcoholic