Addiction - hereditary?

sharnad

azzabazza wrote: »

Thanks for the very useful comments. I just feel so beat up that my addiction could impact on my children. They were so supportive when I needed them.

There are plenty of addicts who have children who aren't addicted to anything. You should read up on de Stanton peeles research which shows there is no evidence to suggest addiction is hereditary

GlynD

sharnad wrote: »

There are plenty of addicts who have children who aren't addicted to anything. You should read up on de Stanton peeles research which shows there is no evidence to suggest addiction is hereditary

You should also read up on the opposing view which suggests there is evidence to show that addiction is hereditary.

BTW not everyone gets all the faulty genes from parents.

azzabazza

I have taken on board all your comments. I do think his addiction is partly hereditary or in the genes especially after a most upsetting phone call from him tonight. I can see myself in where he is at the moment. At least he knows he can speak to me. He knows what I have gone through and he knows he has my 100% support. Counselling was one of my saviours (together with family support) and I have advised him the same. Plus he knows we are behind him.

I also have a horrid feeling that he is tempted to have a drink too many to blot out how he feels. I have reminded him what this did to me in the past and how this is not really productive.

Your help and support has been appreciated.

Mrs_Ryan

scooby088 wrote: »

Could it be down to nurture rather than nature, if you see someone drinking everyday from a young age then surely it's a possibility that later in life they see it acceptable to drink to excess.

My doctor said this to me. She is the first person to tell me bluntly that she thinks I have a drink problem. My Dad is an alcoholic and I've always just seen him drinking to excess from a young age. My brother has a severe gambling problem and both him and I have severe spending issues, I'm also a compulsive shopper - my sister and my Mum are the only ones who don't have addiction problems. I don't know if my Mum had brought me up on her own if I would have still had those problems - when she was pregnant with me her and my Dad started getting divorced but they stayed together in the end - who knows. But I'm pretty sure if I hadn't just seen my Dad getting horrendously drunk every night I wouldn't have thought it was ok to do the same.

azzabazza

I am not entirely sure that it is down to nurture. There was no heavy drinking in the household (nor gambling). My problem with drink started when I was in my 50s when both children had left home. Having had counselling I know there were several triggers at that time that contributed to the problem.

moneysniffer

Do remember, 'addiction' isn't just limited to alcohol, drugs and gambling. If you have a tendency towards addictions or impulsions, they take a wide variety or forms. I think the social stigma towards alcohol, drugs or gambling is that they are perceived as 'selfish' - the person is putting their own 'enjoyment' first, having a wild old time then suffering the consequences.

There are a lot of 'silent' addictions and impulsions, things such as compulsive hand washing or trichotillomania - compulsive hair pulling. Both of which can be very damaging.
Those of you saying 'oh, these people can do something about it if they want to' -Are you telling me that these people want to have dry, cracked ruined hands from too much soap, or a head covered in bald patches, or no eyebrows? Of course not. As said, you are taking far too simplistic a view, it's not always case of 'copying mum or dad', it's much more deep seated than that and absolutely NOT an easy thing to treat. You just don't know how compulsions will manifest.

peachyprice

Mrs_Ryan wrote: »

I'm pretty sure if I hadn't just seen my Dad getting horrendously drunk every night I wouldn't have thought it was ok to do the same.

Really? I would have through it would have the opposite effect if it were that simple. Seeing your parent horrendously drunk is not a nice thing to see and something most people, without any addictive/compulsive personality traits, would vow never to do.

skivenov

sharnad wrote: »

There are plenty of addicts who have children who aren't addicted to anything. You should read up on de Stanton peeles research which shows there is no evidence to suggest addiction is hereditary

This is true to an extent, however, I've read a fair bit of Stanton Peele's work, and in part I agree with him when he says addiction is not a disease.

I personally believe there are two types of addict, those who are pre-disposed by other mental issues, and those who aren't, but end up there by virtue of occurrences in their life. In the case of those who have existing mental health issues, then the addiction can, in my opinion, quite rightly be viewed as a symptom of the underlying condition.

There are plenty of medical conditions that run in families, and there's no evidence at all to exclude mental heath conditions from this, especially when you look at mental health from a neuro-chemical standpoint.