How is alcoholism hereditary

654 views

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?

In: 29

12 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

It can be both psychological and genetic – usually environment/circumstance plays a big role (especially stress/social disconnection). Some people are predisposed to addictive behaviors under stress in order to cope, whether that’s drugs, alcohol, gambling, etc – we have found some similar genetics among people with addictions but don’t know enough about it yet to say exactly how it works. Part of the challenge is that, again, environment and social support can make a big difference and that makes it hard to isolate the genetic component.

You are viewing 1 out of 12 answers, click here to view all answers.