Alcoholism

JUST ME AGAIN :l idec if i'm making too many threads. normally everything i post is just stuff i research myself but i'm getting bored of it. i need opinions.

- does alcoholism run in families?
what do you think? is it genetic, individual personality or is it through social learning?

personally i think it's a bit of all. i think your genes make you more likely to develop the habit but your own personality (which could be debated if that's through social learning or not) decides whether you control it or not.

my story in spoiler if u cba reading

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my grandad was an alcoholic (typical russian ;l) but we never saw him. my dad - my alcoholic grandad's son, never drank because of it so there's no way my brother's could have learnt it from him but ever since my mum and dad's divorce my dad's become an alcoholic. we never saw him either so again my brother's hadn't seen yet they both had stints of alcoholism... there's so many factors that could've contributed to it such as just hearing about it, could've been their genes or the trauma of the divorce.
idk.. what do you think? my eldest never drinks anymore and my other brother still has problems with it. soo... can't tell whether it's genetic or not.

if you can provide any evidence for any statements you say then please do.

I'd inclined to think that it does run in families. It certainly runs down my mother's side of the family from her mother, but that's a long story. I guess there are a lot of social factors as well, stress could be one of them. Some people turn to it as a way of coping which is understandable. I can't see me following in their footsteps though.

Hmmmm this is an interesting one, and like you I believe it's a mixture. I do believe it's something to do with genetics but it's not always the full picture.
The only person with a history of alcoholism in my family is my Granny, however neither my Mum or my uncle have alcohol problems in the slightest. My mum used to drink when she was like in her 20's, but stopped for 15 years and has only just started drinking again, due to a cleaner lifestyle choice. My Granny was adopted at a young age which I think really influenced her negatively, and in recent years she has discovered that her mother was an Irish alcoholic, but she had never had any contact with her, or knew anything about her. Evidently that could be just be down to circumstance, but I believe there must be a genetic link somewhere there.

I too think it's all of them.

I think its genetic in that addiction (im pretty sure) runs in your genes, so if you're more susceptible to it, and then around it (social learning), then you will most likely become an alcoholic. Obviously if someone (individual personality) likes getting drunk or has lots of stress in their life and finds alcohol as an escape, then it's there aswell.

My dad was/is an alcoholic and although me and my sister dont have any alcohol problems and are far from being alcoholics, i do find myself getting easily addicted to things, which makes me believe that yes addiction is passed on in your genes (more of a general thing than a specific addiction, the specific addiction coming from your surroundings).

I agree with you that it's all factors combined, genetics, personality, social learning.

I think the social learning factor probably makes it more likely for a child of an alcoholic to become an alocholic for obvious reasons, it makes sense that your dad steered away from it too in the social learning aspect, taking it from a negative point of view but then it also makes sense that when times were hard to turn to alcohol.

I don't think there are genes that dictate whether you will become an alcoholic or not, obviously as you have said genes control your personality and your personality dictates whether you are susceptible to become an alcoholic. This would suggest that actually, we're all susceptible to alcoholism however our different personality styles control whether we actually do it - of course personality can change.

There needs to be a driving force behind any urge binge drink so excessively you become an alcoholic or even with drugs etc and a lot of the time this force is negative experiences within life, I'd say most people old enough to drink and those that do drink will be quite familiar with the apparent "need" for a drink when stressed/upset etc - that's just logic though:

I am sad
When I am drunk - I am usually not sad and don't have a care in the world
I'm going to get drunk....

and that's completely normal, I've done it before, I know a lot of other people have done it before and I'd place bets that a lot of you have done this before however what's the difference between this and alcoholism? Well quite clearly, knowing where to stop, well... that just depends on your personality, which has developed through genetics, environment and of course your own cognition - so that's the answer really, you can't pinpoint it to one single factor but you can't limit it to a group either.

The genetic part of it wouldn't actually be alcoholism itself, it would be more of a factor to trigger alcoholism in the first place, such as depression and so forth, alcoholism its self defiantly won't run in the family or in your genetics.

I think alcoholism all depends on what type of person you are, the social environment your in, your life style (healthy or not) and problems you may be facing.
Most alcoholics, in my opinion, turn to alcohol because they have a problem they don't want to face upto and see the bottom of their bottle as a way out.
As a child, it's essential that you must be taught that alcohol is dangerous if mishandled and that it can cause many problems - some countries in the world don't educate the youth as we do which could lead to your Russian grandfather being an alcoholic. There is a stereotype that Russians like their vodka, although i wouldn't know, i don't personally know any Russians. Maybe in Russia they're taught that vodka is okay to drink? I have a friend who is from Lithuania and he thinks its okay to drink PINTS of vodka, and that it is the normal thing to do where he is from.

To cut it short, i think alcoholism relies on these factors:
- Your environment.
- Your education.
- Your family.
- Your problems.

I wouldn't say alcoholism runs in the genes, I think it's more likely that an addictive personality may though.
I'd say things like traumatic events have a big say in it aswell.

I take a similar view to alcoholism than you do. My grandfather on my dads side was an alcoholic and I'd say my dad was going that way too.

I'm a social drinker and I'll drink to have a good time. Alcohol for me is a way to let loose and enjoy myself, I don't have to do it and I wont if I don't want to because I don't need it, I don't find it a necessity.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Nationalism

To cut it short, i think alcoholism relies on these factors:
- Your environment.
- Your education.
- Your family.
- Your problems.

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I'm inclined to agree. Your environment is a factor in which may be one of the main factors (as if you were to put others on a shelf or in order of importance). I reckon this is because it's what you're growing up in, your problems and your family could all be thrown into a pile and labelled 'environment'.

I doubt it's genetic personally, alcohol is a man made substance that does terrible things to the body but I wouldn't argue.

:)

I believe genes can affect to an extent your personality, at the same time though we all have minds and we can all exercise mental restraint whether its to do with drinking, drugs or a number of other factors. The idea that alcoholism, unhealthy eating, drugs, crime and so on are some sort of disease is a fantasy - you are in control of your own actions ultimately.

well my mum doesnt like me drinking, because my granda had an alcohol problem when he was in the navy, and when i drink i get pretty drunk, and my mums scared incase it turns into a problem, although im trying not to drink anymore, and i only would every once in a month now anyway!

its certainly a mixture of both, however a different mixture for different people. some people have virtually no alcoholism genes in their family but become alcoholics based on situation. some people who have alcoholism genes are able to recognize their risk before the chance happens for it to come to form. ultimately it comes down to personal choice but how our minds come to decisions varies from person to person. stubborn people like to think that we all have the same will power, but that simply is not the case. this coming from someone (if i'm allowed to say this myself) who has a very high will power. i'm at a pretty highly regarded university, and i have seen first hand very very smart people struggling with addiction to heroin, cocaine, cigarettes, alcohol, etc. and i also have known idiots who would never drink or do a drug of any kind. some people are certainly more prone to becoming alcoholics or drug addicts than others because of genetics. addiction is a powerful thing, and the mind is very mysterious.