So my parents were both raging alcoholics. Drank from dusk tilll dawn. I never didnt see them without a drink going at any given time.
I started drinking at 12. Hard partying style drinking. I drank from 12 till age 30, when I discovered meth. I then kinda stopped drinking in my 30s, but then every time I tried to get clean, the second I had one glass of red wine, I get on , and the vicious circle repeated its self, till I really got clean in 2020.
So my answer to your question is, I’m not sure.
I know my own choices led me to a decade long meth addiction, my parents never touched drugs at all, they only drank. So I know my meth addiction is from my choices and mine alone.
Ultimately, I think our choices led us to our own individual addictions.
But as @Mno said, we live in the now. So I never really think about my past in that manner of reflection…
I have only now. I have only today. And that’s what I think about
Thank you @apes2020 . And I am j just getting interested in the generic or not I guess what caused me to become a alcoholic and my cousin to be hooked on heroin and lose her life we came from the same genetic background but we weren’t raised around hard drugs smh I guess it really doesn’t matter apparently I’m not taking personal responsibility for my shit so I think I’m just going to stay to myself for awhile. but really thank you
It was Rebeccas fantastic find really, I just re-posted …glad it has helped you. I found it so very interesting. It made a lot of sense to me and has helped my journey too. I only wished I’d seen it sooner . @Hollz this really is an interesting subject. I’m glad you put it out on here. I do not think that you aren’t taking responsibility for your addiction by asking and wanting to understand this subject. I personally think that knowledge is power. It’s not about revisiting the past it’s about trying to understand it. I was so deep in my drinking addiction that I never really noticed the bigger picture. When I got sober I started to ask these same questions. It’s only natural to want to try to understand why and how. The familial link (IMHO) is definitely a factor. Maybe not direct parents but grandparents etc. I totally believe that it is genetic and as Dutchie mentioned above were predisposed to addiction it’s just not everyone’s is triggered. (These are just my thoughts and opinions, which is what this place is about….thank the lord for this safe place!) I wondered this because my little sister committed suicide four years ago and many years ago my grandfather (who I didn’t meet) also killed himself is mental illness hereditary? Could I end up doing that if triggered? mmm lots of food for thought, thank you for bringing this up. Thinking about these things actually helps me strengthen my sobriety not hide from taking responsibility.
Such an interesting subject though. I only really scratched the surface with looking into it before I worried myself . We are breaking that link (in some way) if you know what I mean? To ask these questions and look into it further only makes me more sure that I’m doing the right thing. I’m waffling now but this subject is one many of us wonder and one that many of us will use to be sober.
Just to sit right on the middle of the fence - I’d say it’s a combination of the two.
There’s no doubt from the scientific evidence that there are differences in human bodies from individual to individual… Hence why one person may have an allergy to nuts (for example) but I could chow down on peanuts and be fine! So it’s not a massive jump to consider that alcohol works differently on the brain’s reward centres for some people than it does for others, making it a compulsion to drink.
Saying that, alcohol is also an addictive drug, and so in that sense, by exposing yourself to the drug by repeated consumption there is definitely a raised risk --because pathways in the brain are literally altered by taking the drug, so in that sense we are making ourselves addicted by the act of drinking.
So yeah, combination.
Either way tho, it only goes in one direction. Down to crap.
But I will say thank you to all of the amazing people that gave honest intelligent answers. That was exactly what I was looking for in the answers we won’t ever truly know but we all do honest to god have the same problem and found a better way thank you
I honestly think we can read all we want do all the right research but at the end of everyday we have to just understand what’s not really understood, be accountable, do a honest daily inventory and pray for another day sober/clean
My mom would tell me she wish she didnt drink while pregnant with me, maybe i wouldnt been the way i am but i dont blame her for the way i am. Accepting the way things are is a big part for me in recovering. Alcohol can cause alcoholism just like carcinogens can cause cancer. Genetics and environments just can cause some people to be more susceptible to certain diseases like hereditary health problems, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, mental illness, cant be completely avoided but manageable with more knowledge and research.
I think it’s a mix. Like there is a sleeping gene or somethin in us and once it’s activated then it’s all down hill from there. I’m not a doctor nor have I done any research; however, logic is where I live and that makes the most sense to me. Not sure tbh.
Well one thing is if we never started drinking/using we never would have had a problem so it comes back to we kinda chose to have a problem which sucks
But some people it can develop later in life even though they never started early can have fatal effects for them being up in age and more prone to health problems later on
Very true I mean I started drinking at a ridiculous age … 7 and my liver and kidneys have to a hit because of it so yeah it a older age I’m sure it would do harm
I started looking into genetic and inherited diseases, just so much information mind blowing, but catching the problem early no matter what it is, is key to dealing with it and treating syptoms.
…glad it has helped you. I found it so very interesting. It made a lot of sense to me and has helped my journey too. I only wished I’d seen it sooner 
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mmm lots of food for thought, thank you for bringing this up. Thinking about these things actually helps me strengthen my sobriety not hide from taking responsibility. 
. We are breaking that link (in some way) if you know what I mean? To ask these questions and look into it further only makes me more sure that I’m doing the right thing. I’m waffling now but this subject is one many of us wonder and one that many of us will use to be sober. 