Forum: Close to Home
Topic: How can science help us deal with the problems of addiction?
Topic Posted by: Close To HomeDate Posted: Wed Mar 18 15:22:22 1998
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Posted by: Patty Fairbanks (pattyf04@aol.com )
Date posted: Mon Mar 30 10:45:12 1998
Subject: Genetic factors
Message:
I found "The Hijacked Brain" to be a fascinating look at the way an addict's brain"rewires" itself to accomodate the addiction. Obviously, a certain number of individuals are predisposed to become addicts because of genetic and environmental factors. I am the oldest of 10 children; our father was alcoholic, and died prematurely of alcohol-related causes at the age of 50, and a maternal grandfather, also alcoholic, died of cirrhosis of the liver. I am the only non-addict among my sibling group. Over the years, I have been asked many times, why didn't YOU become an alcoholic like the rest? I believe that I spared the chemical predisposition to the disease. I have always been a social drinker and could take alcohol or leave it. My siblings, on the other hand, could never regulate themselves, and drank to get drunk. Now that they are all in their 30's and 40's, they struggle with their addictions (the majority are also smokers). I consider myself fortunate but have always been mystified as to why such a high percentage of my family group have suffered the disease of alcholism. Had my mother been more informed about it, perhaps the early onset of the disease could have been prevented. My siblings all began smoking and drinking at young ages (12-13) and probably "wired" their brains early on. I believe that early intervention and education is very important. Since children of alcoholics are four times as likely to develop alcoholism themselves, this fact should be general knowledge.
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