natalie661

Addiction has run very strong on both sides of my family:
Dad- Alcoholic & pills
Mom- Very strong addiction to pills
My Great-grandfathers- Both died due to complications cause by alcohol
Grandmother- Pill addiction

I'm not trying to say it's all genetic so that's to blame, but I can't help but notice how it does seem to be a cycle in some families. If anything, seeing what my parents put themselves through should have taught me to stay the hell away from it all yet I found myself going down some of the same paths.

Anyway, just wondering how many have you have similar family backgrounds?

EternalNow

My whole family and extended family are non drinkers. Tee-totalers. No avowed Alcoholics though. So I don't know if I consider this problem drinking or not.

brynn

Hi Natalie!

Yep...both my parents were alcoholics. All my siblings have addiction problems...my sister died because of hers.

However, I don't blame my addiction on my family history or anything else for that matter. I take full responsibility for my choices to drink and use just like I take full responsibility for choosing to quit. Our upbringing doesn't have to define who we are as adults. I'm not destined to live and die as my parents did. I create my own destiny and I choose to do it sober.

Bailey3

Alcoholism is very prevalent on my fathers side of the family. My father was an abusive alcoholic with a very bad temper. I swore it would never happen to me also. I never became abusive but, I sure did become an alcoholic.

Inchworm

My mother hardly ever drank. My grandmothers brother was purportedly an alcoholic but no one else on that side of the family. My dad died when I was young and was first generation American. I just now have reconnected with my Italian family and it seems they do drink more.

natalie661

Sorry to hear about your sister Brynn. And yes, I also know that just b/c family have had addictions doesn't mean we're destined to it. There are many members in my family who have never been drunk or had a drug in their lives. I think more than the genetics of it, it's probably living with it and seeing it at a young age that may be more of the risk factor

least

I have the dubious distinction of being the first (known) alcoholic in my family.

ScottFromWI

No alcoholics in my family to my knowledge. My mother rarely drank anyting at all, and while my father did drink regularly it was never to excess or the point of causing any problems.

Hevyn

Parents were social drinkers. However, most males died quite young in my family. Not sure if any of them were alcoholics - and no one is likely to share that info.

Ruby2

My parents are not alcoholic. They rarely have A drink. My dad's brother is probably an alcoholic but hasn't had a drink in 27 years. My grandparents on dad's side were drinkers, grandpa thought it was causing problems, so they both quit.

My mom's mother drank a lot of gin towards the end of her life. I have no idea whether she was an alcoholic.

I have the dubious distinction of being the "outed" alcoholic and openly working on sobriety. My grandfather is still living but he just doesn't drink. He's like that. It's bad for me, I'll stop, amen, never another word about it.

SDH73

At some point when I was a kid my dad stopped drinking. I only ever saw him drink beer, not all the time, and I never recall seeing him drunk. Of course, I was little so I wouldn't have known what to look for.

He wasn't very forthcoming about it when asked. Simply said that once he started drinking he would keep drinking and drinking. So he stopped altogether.

I have since wondered about the details of how and why he came to really decide to quit. Did it get pretty bad or did he catch it before it became an issue? Would he be able to sympathize with us, here?

Mom rarely drinks. Half a glass of wine and she's giggling and giddy.

No other issues in my lineage that I'm aware of, but I didn't grow up with relatives around. They're scattered all over the US and I rarely ever saw them.

natalie661

It's kind of weird b/c I never lived with my dad and didn't even know him until about age 15 so his drinking I never saw on a first hand basis. However, my mother has been very bad on pills to the point now that she is jobless and nearly homeless. But I have always leaned more toward wanting the alcohol than pills. I can take a prescription of pills when prescribed, finish them and move on without ever feeling like I need more, although I'm sure for me it's just the ease and availability of getting the alcohol that makes it my go do 'drug'.

benice

Mom was a social drinker only. Dad was a full blown alcoholic and it killed him. That was UGLY! My sisters are both nightly drinkers like me. I believe that for some of us it is genetic and for all of us it is progressive. Like Brynn said, that doesn't mean there is someone else to blame. We are all responsible for our own behavior. So I am trying to walk away before I hit the proverbial bottom. (Day 16)

Aellyce

My parents were some of the most sober people I have known, very rarely and minimally drank and knew nothing about other drugs. I definitely did not pick up drinking or interest in drugs in the family home. Both of my grandfathers (that I never met) were alcoholics, though, and an uncle and aunt. Plus lots of other mental illnesses in the family ranging from very severe to manageable.

KeryJames

The person who was married to my mother and apparently contributed to my coming into the world.....(I can't bring myself to use a title) was a violent alcoholic. My mother was a bit on the mental side, but not a drinker. So it was all fun and games growing up....

I could not begin to describe the hatred I had for him. And her too, even though I would protect her/take her side etc she was very angry bordering on psychotic. I couldn't understand why she couldn't just next him. Money I suppose.

His mother was a lush as well and he would strangely drink with her. Very odd.

I do not believe it's genetic. There are certain learned behaviours. I felt that I wasn't shown anything and therefor learned certain "coping strategies". Luckily I got into sport and self development but I always had that dark streak lurking inside.

He still drinks today. Has never said that his drinking is a problem, has never acknowledged that he caused havoc. At least they now live apart, the rusult of pure violence reaching boiling point.

gracetuesday

My pop is an alcoholic

alphaomega

Yes.

Wastinglife

My mother has been drunk every night for the last 25 years. Because she never drinks before 5 pm, she maintains a certain deniability that she has a problem. According to her she is just "unwinding". My father now drinks as much as her since he retired. So both my parents are effectively functional alcoholics. My alcoholism was missing the 'functional' part so I had to stop or I would be dead, in jail, or homeless. It's sad that I can't ever go visit them ever again. We just meet for lunch once or twice a year and that's it.

Scram

Both of my grandparents on my mom's side were alcoholics. My uncle - also on my mom's side - is an alcoholic and has essentially had his life destroyed by it (Multiple arrests, 4 stints in prison, lost his family, practically unemployable at age 55). My mom was a casual drinker, and I have watched it progress as she ages into her seventies, but she has never been problematic.

Soberpotamus

My mother was an alcoholic. My father doesn't drink. My mom's dad was an alcoholic who quit in his late 30's and has been sober ever since. He's in his early 80's now. His father was also an alcoholic who quit successfully. My dad's dad was an alcoholic. He lived to be 90-something.