In our culture, alcohol accompanies us on almost every occasion. We drink to celebrate success and to sweeten the taste of failure. Alcohol is present at all major celebrations, whatever they may be - weddings, birthdays, funerals, examinations... Every occasion can be celebrated with a drink.
Table of contents:
- Alcoholism - a genetic addiction?
- Why can alcoholism be a congenital disease?
- Alcoholism - genes are no guarantee of addiction
Research into the genetic causes of alcohol add iction is currently an important topic being addressed by scientists. In explaining the origins of alcoholism, more and more attention is being paid to its biological, innate factor.
Alcoholism - a genetic addiction?
The very genetic background with which we appear in the world has an impact on our susceptibility to alcohol addiction. What we probably get as a gift from our ancestors, what we inherit and what we are born with is one of the elements that drive the mechanisms for the emergence and development of addiction. It is estimated that around 20% of the population has an innate tendency to abuse consciousness-altering drugs - including alcohol. This is absolutely not to say that someone is automatically born programmed for alcoholism. Certain characteristics related to alcohol metabolism are inherited.
Why can alcoholism be a congenital disease?
We often observe that people drink similarly, but their reactions to alcohol are completely different. This is due to the fact that each of us has our own genetically determined quality of alcohol-oxidising enzymes. Each organism is a different predisposition to the ability to take in alcohol, metabolise it and feel the effects of drinking. Our aversive (negative) reactions and level of tolerance to alcohol are therefore different. It is these differences that may favour taking in more alcohol without experiencing the negative and unpleasant effects of drinking and lead to faster addiction.
For some, drinking alcohol, even a small amount, causes strong negative effects and very severe consequences (the so-called "severe hangover"): headache, nausea, vomiting, worsening of mood, drowsiness, loathing of alcohol. The body has such a "natural" reaction to alcohol. These people will tend to avoid such unpleasant states and thus reach for alcohol less frequently, hence they are less likely to be exposed to addiction. The situation is the opposite among this group, who have a high tolerance to alcohol, feel relaxed afterwards and do not feel the unpleasant effects of drinking, even when drinking large amounts of alcohol. These will be more inclined to reach for alcohol, and thus the risk of addiction is higher in them.
Alcoholism - genes are no guarantee of addiction
The important role of congenital factors in the development of alcoholism does not mean that we are automatically branded with alcoholism. There is no gene for alcoholism!!! As therapists from the Therapy Centre in Janowiec emphasise : "Biological factors regulating the risk of alcohol addiction co-occur together with psychological and social factors. It is the interplay of these conditions - a person's specific psychological, cultural and social situation (plus his biological conditions) that influences our susceptibility and the dynamics of the development of addiction".
