2006-12-10 08:51:15 · 3 answers · asked by sugarmonkey47 3 in Health ➔ Mental Health
This is a very good question. I grew up with an alcoholic father. I have seven siblings and out of the seven only one has turned out to have a alcohol problem. The weird thing is she is very much like my father in personality and she was very close to him and when he died she didn't handle it well at all. I have read alot about alcoholism and I know the tendency to become an alcoholic is very great if one has been exposed to it by a parent. I have noticed I crave the taste of alcohol if I have only one drink. I usually drink once or twice a year at the most and if I didn't watch it I see how easily I could slip into alcoholism. I don't really like the taste of it so it makes me wonder if there is some gene that just exists in me to draw me to wanting a drink? I find this subject very interesting.
2006-12-10 09:04:45 · answer #1 · answered by softlyinspired 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Nobody is born an alcoholic. Depending on their specific genetic makeup, one sibling may be at a higher risk of developing alcoholism than another. Becoming an alcoholic involves a choice. No matter how great your propensity to become an alcoholic is, if you never take the first drink, you will never become an alcoholic. That may seem a little extreeme, but that was the choice I made when I learned how many alcoholics I have in my family. I may have the genetic tendency, but I will never become an alcoholic because I will never drink. My sister's drink socially and have never had a problem. My cousin on the other hand, drinks too much and does have a problem - she just hasn't admitted it yet.
2006-12-10 08:58:41 · answer #2 · answered by Gypsy Girl 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
People are not born alcoholics although they can inherit the tendency for alcoholism from a parent.
2006-12-10 08:53:46 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋