bunchie

Are we alcoholics predestined to be alcoholic? Or did we do this to ourselves? Why can some people drink daily two or three drinks then go home? And I once I start have a very hard time stopping. I at an early age had a huge tolerance for alcohol. My father was a chronic alcoholic, incredibly drunk everyday, 3 ouis , lost jobs , turned out he was also bipolar manic depressant. They say alcoholism is a disease , that alcoholics are predestined to become alcoholics, however if one never chooses to start drinking in the first place they never will become an alcoholic. In my opinion I think alcoholics are predestined but I also believe there are some alcoholic's who become addicted because of choice, either way there is no difference they both need help in the end. Is there any scientific evidence of predetermined alcoholism. I have heard of addictive personalities, people who are preety much addicted to everything, is there a way to determine this before the person heads down the destructive path.i sure as hell wish I knew before I went down the path of destruction, I know it's my fault no one forced me to drink, I saw warning signs in my late 20s , but continued on, denial came easy and I always worked and hung out with drunks who would just laugh at incredibly sad adventures, I never considered AA, I was a classic binge drinker,Holidays and weekends to excess, never drank normally , and basically have been a drunk for 38 of my 58 years on this planet. It is time to stop it's no longer fun, but as I read these posts I come across many people who are relapsing and I wonder if the ones who relapse are the chronic alcoholic like my father or the person who became an alcoholic by choosing to drink and transforming their brain into an alcoholic brain. I read somewhere , where the alcoholic processes alcohol different from non alcoholic people.

Dee74

Hi Bunchie

I have to admit I gave up on the why when I found out about the how- if I don't drink my alcoholism need never be a factor in my life again

D

Gottalife

Much the same as Dee, excepting I needed a complete psychic change to make drinking redundant.

An expert told me that the science says alcoholism is a brain disease that is genetic in nature. There is also an environmental element which may or may not trigger the gene, which explains why it may skip a generation, or skip some siblings.

The broader diagnosis of alcohol used disorder includes chronic alcoholics at the extreme, but also a large number on non alcoholic problem drinkers who are just behaving badly and drinking dangerously at the time. Some in the latter group appear very like sufferers from alcoholism, but can stop by choice.

Alcoholism itself has two defining symptoms, loss of choice in whether to drink or not, and loss of control after taking the first drink. I am one who exhibited both these symptoms.

Forward12

Heredity is the #1 reason to be predisposed to alcoholism, though there are other factors such as other mental health issues. Though you are correct if alcohol is never introduced in the first place, then you can never become an alcoholic even if you have the gene.
The alcoholic brain essentially has two malfunctions. The first is that there is no "off" switch that a normal person has as the body recognizes alcohol as a poison, and tells them to stop. The 2nd part is alcoholic get an intense "high" from the alcohol where a normal drinker doesn't. These two combined lead to when an alcoholic drinks, their brain has a reverse reaction of screaming "more more more!!!" causing you to keep drinking until you are wasted.
Over time of this repeated abuse, the prefrontal cortex of the brain gets permanently alternated to think you psychically need alcohol for survival, and this is the point where the "fun" ends, and full blown alcoholic dependence sets in.

Gottalife

As an aside, I read an article on this site which was by the same expert research team I refer to above about some research that sought to discover if there was any causal connection between depression and alcoholism. They found definite evidence that alcoholism causes depression, but nothing to confirm that depression causes alcoholism.

My thought is other elements and behaviours are as random among alcoholics as they are in the general population. I have met alcoholics who are seriously mentally ill, and alcoholics who are not. I have seen many more metally ill people who are not alcoholic. A local mental health hospital has one ward for alcoholic wet brains, and more than a dozen for other illnesses.Same with criminals, some criminals are alcoholic, but many alcoholics are not criminals. Diabetes, heart disease, obesity or malnutrition, dementia and the like all occur in the non-alcoholic population.

least

I don't think much about the why's and wherefore's of it. I know I will not have those problems if I just don't drink. So I don't drink. You can analyze it all you like, but what it comes down to is, living sober is better and simpler.

Renvate

Alcoholism has been around in the human gene pool for centuries and I am a firm believer that some people inherit dormant alcoholism. When I first tried it, it felt like it was my calling. I needed all I can drink and couldn't stop from day 1 of my alcoholism.

Now looking back in family history, iam not surprised. Everyone has an alcohol issue.

MissPerfumado

I actually did think about the "why's" a lot when giving up.

There is a lot of evidence for a genetic predisposition in my case. There's a significant incidence in my father's family, I had a high tolerance to drinking from an early age and I also had no "off" switch" - I loved continuing to drink once I started.

Ultimately, as many have said on this thread, it was irrelevant to my need to stop. It's just of academic interest to me only. I don't even use it as an "excuse" as to why I drank so much. It was always my choice to pick up a drink. Just as it was my choice to stop doing it.

DontRemember

I also did a lot of 'over' thinking on the "why" of it all in the first few months. Eventually the "why" didn't matter anymore. The reality of "it is a problem for you" took over after some self reflection and serious thinking about my reality. Once I got to that point, I was just done trying to control my/others situation(s) surrounding drinking and gave up. That was about 10 months ago, give/take.

Gerard52

Alcohol is an addictive substance drink too much and anyone will become addicted. The label doesn't matter what matters is if alcohol is destroying your life.

It is a toxin a poison that can cause a variety of diseases physical and mental. It has no nutritional value or health benefit. I know it is slowly destroying my life and it is getting worse overtime.

There is debate as to whether it is a disease or a bad habit, may be it is both.

Treating it as a habit based on self limiting and false beliefs and changing your mindset is the key to breaking the habit and creating new good habits. When in the grips of addiction we do have a disease but that is gone once we stop, but drink again you can catch the alcoholic disease again.

Gerard52

This in an excellent definition and so far I am in the badly behaved category. However, being able to stop through choice creates dangerous illusion you don't have a serious problem. I relapse into drinking dangerously again and each time it more than the last.

PeacefulWater12

I am not really that bothered about why, I just know that I cannot have an alcoholic drink as it sets off a chain reaction in my body and I will compulsively drink until I pass out.

bunchie

Thank you , Everyone who responded to my question , one week today going to wedding and I feel good and I am not going to drink. I was just curious how some people can drink normally and others can not, and I do believe there has to be something biological that makes one drink compulsively from early on and others who early on get turned off from alcohol or get sick and nauseous from the beginning. All I know is that early on from age 17-18 while in high school I could drink 18-24 beers without a problem and I weighed about 160 and some of the kids I hung out with were giants 215 pounds or better and they would end up being carried out of parties puking and I was usually one of the last to leave.Its a curious and fascinating disease , I just wish I was not part of the subject matter. Lol

bunchie

So do you think a non alcoholic , someone who is not predisposed to being alcoholic can become alcoholic by abusing alcohol in social situations such as college parties , where there is excessive drinking going on.This person might start out drinking normally but their brains become altered like that of an alcoholic or are they just problem drinkers who preety much can stop by choice. For example the heavy binge drinker on weekends, in my opinion they are alcoholics who go through withdrawals during week , act like alcoholics when they are not drinking, ( irritable, grouchy, negative, lethargic, etc)but somehow they stop when weekend is over and take 4-5 days off then repeat process. Their brains must be a little bit different from the chronic alcoholic if they have the ability to stop.

doggonecarl

"Some people have a genetic predisposition to addiction, but because it involves these basic brain functions, everyone will become an addict if sufficiently exposed to drugs or alcohol."
--Dr. Nora Volkow, director of NIDA

Gottalife

I might go along with that in respect of many drugs (though even that seems to be the subject of debate these days) but in my experience that is complete nonsense in respect to alcoholism. There were plenty of people in my circle who drank more than me over much longer periods and yet were not and never became alcoholic. Yet my aunt told me that when I was 14 and visiting her, she was convinced I was alcoholic. There was a statistic for New Zealand society where 9% of drinkers are alcoholic which also means 91% of drinkers are not.

Of course it might depend a lot on your exact idea of what an alcoholic or an addict is.

Nonsensical

I like to know how stuff works, too. Learning is entertaining for me, and when I was first getting sober I was intensely interested in learning how addiction works in the brain. Obsessing about how addicted brains work was a distraction from obsessing over alcohol.

After a while, though, it became evident that learning about addiction was not nearly as valuable as remaking myself into someone who was able to permanently walk away from my substance of choice. That is my journey.

Best of Luck on Your Journey.

kevlarsjal2

I think, summarising I would say that for me it was a lot of emotional pain and a lack of other / better tools to deal with it.
I'd say that I just didn't learn in my childhood how to actually deal with life so I did never fit in into this thing called life. And when something doesn't fit, it hurts. Like too tight jeans.

DreamCatcher17

I do not think anyone chooses to be an addict/alcoholic, what a stupid choice that would be.
For me I believe there are a few factors;
1. I am native american and through all of my readings, I am missing the enzymes to properly breakdown alcohol in my body, so that can quickly turn into a black out, or I drink 5 drinks and feel nothing but 10 mins later it hits me like a tone of bricks.
2. I believe for it it was hereditary. My Grandpa, grandma, mom, sperm donor and his brothers all had addict behavior weather it was alcohol or heroin, meth or whatever. My Moms sisters and Brothers, all 5 of them have been addicts to something, coke, meth, alcohol, whatever.
3. I also believe my upbringing played a role. I was around pot and alcohol all my life, everywhere we went it was normal. Watching my mom get stupid was normal.
4. I also believe I was made to be an alcoholic/addict as it sure has made me become a better person, with out serious consequences (luckily).

No matter why we are an alcoholic or an addict, we are. The best solution is to practice sobriety every day, learn and grow into the best humane we are capable of. Pay it forward and help the next person in line.

entropy1964

As many have said, I like information too. And the neuro science of addiction is interesting. But for every piece of 'evidence' to support one side their is contradicting evidence to support the other.

To the best of my knowledge science has yet to identify a 'gene' for addiction. So it is a genotype, a phenotype? I dunno. My logical brain tends to think that alcohol is a drug, like any other drug, so why couldn't anyone become addicted with enough dedication to the cause? I mean, if I did heroine abusively I would become addicted, right?

I know for sure a large part of MY addiction was learned. I came from an alcoholic family, quite emotionally dysfunctional, I had some childhood abuse and neglect thrown in. I watched my parents drink all the time. I never really learned how to cope and certainly only watched them cope with booze. So 1+2=3. 3 of the 5 kids are addicts. One has serious, debilitating mental health issues and is on many meds. The other was the golden child, the one that received the most nurturing and acceptance. Interesting that he is the one that isn't the addict....although he drinks daily.

And on and on. I just know if I don't drink, I don't have to sweat it. And the only known 'cure' for my addiction is abstinence. That I know.