I wonder if there are truly people out there in the world who have no genetic predisposition to alcoholism.... I would be curious to know statistics if any on that... it would seem to me almost impossible...
-- Edited by justadrunk on Friday 1st of March 2013 02:06:07 PM
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Thanks for everything. Peace and Love on your journey.
I guess it's okay to ponder such things, AS LONG AS we don't start 'obsessing' over it ...
There are situations, like mine, for instance, that may provide a little insight ... I believe that due to my 'genetic DNA coding', that I was predestine to becoming an alcoholic for sure ... You ask WHY ??? ... ... ... you see, I have read many, many stories here and have heard many, many testimonies in AA meetings where the AA member shares there first exposure to alcohol and the effect it had on them ... some as early as 5/6 years old but usually around the 10 to 13 y/o category ... Well over 90% have shared that their FIRST drink was of such 'impact', they had what is akin to a 'spiritual awakening' ... meaning whether the experience was good OR bad, they knew that alcohol would, in that instance, be a part of the rest of their lives ...
The few testimonies I've heard from Non-Alcoholics is that when in their adolescent years, when they accidently or on purpose got served alcohol, they detested it so that they never wanted another drink ... OR that when they became adults, they could deal with, and enjoy, the relaxing benefits of alcohol, but could not stand the affect it had on them to loose their balance and their speech patterns if they drank a little too much ... so, like my wife, she can easily drink one and one half glasses of wine and that's all you can force her to drink ... her head is wired different due to different DNA ... that's the only plausible explanation to me ...
My first drink was when I was just shy of 21 ... and I got sick ... a year later, same thing ... (my religious upbringing led me to really hold myself back for a while in the early years ...) ... I turned into a 'working alcoholic' pretty soon a short time later ... then years later into what most of us would call 'a raging alcoholic' ...
My opinion on this DNA issue ??? ... for alcohol? ... I think one IS predestine to be an alcoholic ... NOT so, with modern drugs ... THAT'S a whole different story ...
P.S. Forgot my point ... that is that if I had not had alcohol for lets say forty years, I would not have had an addiction problem during that time ... it was only when I 'triggered the allergy' that I got hooked just like a fish ... then, the addiction was off and running ...
-- Edited by Pythonpappy on Friday 1st of March 2013 04:12:28 PM
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'Those who leave everything in God's hand will eventually see God's hand in everything.'
Growing up, I really had no exposure to booze. My parents never drank around us, if at all. It wasn't mentioned, there was no booze in our house. I was pretty sheltered from it. I truly didn't know it existed until I began drinking myself at 12. 'Dry drunk' was a term used by my mother to describe my father... But that term was never explained to me. So I have this photograph of my parents at what appears to be some sort of function. They're both dressed nicely and smiling with arms around each other. I've always liked this photo because it's such a sharp contrast to the parents I knew. To say my household was cold and distant doesn't really explain the underlying themes of anger and hatred between my parents and shown to us kids. There was no smiling or laughter unless it was us kids away from our parents, and even those precious times left us eventually. The very interesting thing about this photo is they are both holding drinks. Imagine the only memory I have of my father smiling and looking handsome is from this photo... And he appears to be drunk. It just struck me as odd that I'd never noticed the drink in his hand. It's never occurred to me that there could be a genetic component to my own alcoholism- not that it matters. Just interesting.
Stop wasting time trying to 'understand' the whys or hows ... ... ... does it or will it make any difference in the 'now' ??? ... ... ... no matter the past, we are what we think ... if that thinking over the years included a dependence on alcohol, then you're in the right place to change that 'way of thinking' ... cause the fact is, we are what we think ... if we are not the person we wish to be, we must make every effort to start thinking and acting they way that the person we want to be would act and think ... that's the reason we work the steps ... dump the old garbage and restock the shelves in the ole 'noggin' ...
My first drink was just a few weeks shy of my turning 21 ... my mom and dad never drank ... could have been because they were very religious ... but my family beyond them had drunks on both sides ... for sure aunts and uncles ... my childhood was nothing short of perfect, or 'ideal' rather ... I didn't really start loosing control of my life til my wife and I had our first son ... with DNA coding screwed up, he was mentally handicap from the start ... not supposed to live past is teens ... he's 39 now ... I could handle everything else in life it seemed, just not this ... at least this is what I told myself at the time ... then alcohol became my crutch, my 'go-to' escape from reality ... nobody pushed me into this line of thinking, it just happened ...
AA offered me a way out of the hole in life I dug ... and I'm glad to have learned a new skill set that allows me to choose 'good, correct' kind of thinking over the old way ...
Wow Col, ... ... ... good topic, but I lost myself here and started rambling ... sorry!!!
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'Those who leave everything in God's hand will eventually see God's hand in everything.'
Id be curious, too, Tasha. I really don't think it matters one way or the other, as Pappy and 2granddaughters pointed out. I do know that I seem to be the only one of my siblings with alcoholism. I noticed this at my brothers wedding. I hadnt seen my brothers in years and I drank to ease the awkwardness I felt. I noticed that, although we were all drinking, I was drinking compulsively. I HAD to have my next drink in front of me before the one in my hand was halfway through. I HAD to drink before and after the event. It really illustrated to me the difference in how I drank on a daily basis in comparison to my brothers having a few and not really thinking about it. I just find it interesting. I was like studying how they drank, not realizing that this in and of itself was a clear indication of a problem on my part.
I guess you are referring to 'addictions or alcoholism only ??? ... Tasha?
Everything about genetics is about predispositions ... how we look, color of eyes, hair, skin, how big we get, size of our feet, legs, mr. happy, boobs, weight, etc. ...
The ONLY thing we can control here is what information we choose to feed our minds with ... therein determines who we become ... this determines 'how we think' ... (until we break into adulthood though, a lot of what we think is based on our childhood and what we endured as a result of that ...) ... after childhood we start making choices for ourselves ... and that's the path we stay on until we choose otherwise ...
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'Those who leave everything in God's hand will eventually see God's hand in everything.'
it seems the more i read in history, the more I can't imagine there could be a single person out there who doesn't have the right make up for it -
i was told that because of my trauma and my genes - i got to go down this road - had i not had the trauma - it may not have ever went haywire...
doesn't really matter though - it is what it is - very interesting to think about - but does it bring me any sort of peace, serenity or joy right now? not really... LOL
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Thanks for everything. Peace and Love on your journey.
My sister and I grew up treated the same way in a good household with loving parents. She has a double Masters degree and a great job as one of the movers and shakers of the world. She has a drink or two and is happy with that. I flitted from place to place, in and out of trouble with teachers and police. If I tried anything then I took it over and over and over again until it was no longer fun and started to destroy my life.
I was always different - even before I had my first drink, and I believe now that it was just some of the symptoms of this disease showing themselves. My sister has always been normal in everything she does.
So nature or nurture? Nil if you ask me. It's just random (or maybe calculated) chance.
As an analytical I love discussions like this so that I can compare what I know from what I've learned thru listening, reading and experiencing. Genetics? of course. Are we an altered tribe of people? Does alcohol and alcoholism predate the life of the Christ by thousands of years? Did my grandmother turn me on at the age of 9 and not know it and didn't understand same as me?...and why did my mother fight her on her decision to introduce her grandchildren to that heady 12% Rose? In my recovery journey I got the answers to those questions and more. Alcoholics don't drink because they have problems...they have problems because they drink. Genetics? of course!!...for me.
Both. I recently attended a public meeting run by one of our AA groups at which the head of our national addiction centre and professor of psychiatry gave an address on the latest medical thinking re alcoholism, particularly our group of sufferers.. The beyond human aid group. Main points summarised as follows. Verbatim where possible. It turns out AA was right all along. AA is the most successful self help (his words) organisation for any medical condition ever in history. Alcoholism is a brain disease that is partly genetic and partly environmental 50/50. If environmental factors don,t switch the gene on alcoholism may not develop. This explains why alcoholism skips a generation sometimes. There is no recorded case where alcoholism has been caused by outside issues. The remedy is a conversion or psychic change which AA brings about through spiritual experience or awakening. AA are the experts here. A way has still not been found to bring about the required psychic change through medical means. Medical thinking has gone full circle in this respect and we are now at about 1966' a time when LSD was trialled for this purpose. In his talk he also drew a distinction that there were broadly two groups of alcoholics. The first was a group that often responded well when new medications or methods were tried. Maybe these were AAs hard drinkers. Then there was the group that failed to respond and just continued to get worse. Perhaps that's us... The hopeless cases for which AA provides the most effective solution, probably the only solution barring that very small percentage that have spontaneous recoveries on their own.
