How is alcoholism hereditary

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Is it because growing up with an alcoholic parent psychologically gravitates you towards it as well? If this is the case then I can understand that. But I’ve read that it’s genetic as well. How does that work if a parent became an alcoholic after their child was born? Or is it both psychological and genetic?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

I am an alcoholic with 11 years sobriety

ELI5: say johnny didn’t clean his room. Johnny’s Dad gets mad and hits him. Johnny’s younger brother borrows his toy without asking, johnny gets mad and hits his brother. Johnny saw his Dad acting inappropriate, and now he does it. And Johnny’s younger brother is likely to do it too.

Non-ELI5: basically it’s generational trauma. If someone is an alcoholic they are most likely self medicating an underlying mental health issue. A child being raised in an environment of 1.) Untreated mental illness 2.) Unhealthy if not toxic coping skills is going to be predisposed to a variety of issues. In the scenario outlined above you’d likely develop generalized anxiety (fear of violence over a minor infraction).. of which drinking alcohol is one unhealthy coping mechanism to address it (alcohol can suppress social anxiety).

There’s a test called the Adverse Childhood Encounter (ACE) it goes 1-10. Someone with a 4 is predisposed to alcoholism.

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