Having "the gene," or how many of you come from a family with history of addiction?

[n3ophy7e]

^^ Very interesting mwb, thanks for sharing


It is a well-known fact that alcoholism runs in my dad's side of the family, and in fact it is the only addiction that is evident in either side of my family at all.

 

[Cohesion]

When I was 22, I was sent to a Rehab in the Berkshires. When I relapsed (there) I was kicked out for 3 days. My aunt, a retired, overcaffeinated retired English teacher, drove and picked me up.

I was subjected to 3 days of her "ancestry" archive. I learned who was into what and was able to read some of the postal mail they'd written.

My mom's side is so spread into addiction; I don't want to describe.

Yes I believe there is a DNA sequence having some relation to addiction, but it is chance & environmental influence. I have hope that my daughter will not become an addict, although both her parents, and all 4 grandparents are/were addicts/alcoholics.

I still have hope! %) Why not?

 

[ilikewater]

Hey there,
My dad's side has a history of addiction with my dad, his sister was a coke addict and so is his cousin. And almost everyone is an alcoholic. Personally, I chose opiates although didn't choose the addiction part haha. They're all pretty much is clean (except for the alcohol) and the people who aren't are not in my life.

When I would use H I would only throw up if I smoked a cigarette, and that was like a 100% chance. It wouldn't matter how much I'd done, if I smoked I'd be sick.. Nobody else I knew had that interaction problem. But anyway.

I am sorry you have to witness something like that, I could imagine it would be horrible for you but I wouldn't know from experience.
I hope things are looking up and your dad is feeling better

 

[godlovesugly]

addiction is all over both sides of my family.

also mental illness such as OCD and depression.

i definitely goth both of those.

 

[wooger]

Interesting article - i notice since I have given up drinking I really crave sweet things - constantly eating chocolate whereas before, the smallest amount of choc choc was too sickly sweet for me!

As to coming from a family of addicition, my mum is a raging alcoholic and has been for god knows how long, the sad thing is she doesnt think she has a problem at all and thinks alcoholics are people who just drink whisky all day everyday and are homeless etc.

I really hope she realies what shes doing to her self before its too late (I expect by now she must have caused some major damage). However, any attempt to discuss this with her is met with hostility so nobody in the family really tries with her anymore

 

[mrs_mia_wallace]

I come from a long line of alcoholics and addicts on both my mother's and father's side. Both my grandfathers died from cirrhosis of the liver, and my grandmother on my father's side was addicted to painkillers (she died from a heart attack). My father and his brother are both alcoholics, my mother's sister is addicted to painkillers. On my mother's side, two of my cousins have been addicted to cocaine for several years, and on my father's side one of my cousins is a heroin addict and another a severe alcoholic (she's had several hospital visits).

My brother has been a heroin addict for over a decade, I have been addicted to cocaine, meth, and heroin. If you look at my family the gene theory is confirmed...

What I also find interesting however is that eating disorders run in my family. One of my cousins who is addicted to cocaine also has an eating disorder, and like me she got into cocaine to deter hunger. My grandmother on my father's side also has an eating disorder, she went to treatment when she was 58 because it wasn't recognzied as a disease until much later in her life. On my father's side his sister has an eating disorder as well although she's never been to treatment...

wow, looking at this no wonder I'm fucked up.

 

[iceicebaby]

My father and his father both had drinking problems. My grandfather drank himself to death and my father finally recently quit drinking after almost four decades of doing so. I also have various uncles and aunts on my mom's side that are or were heavy drinkers.

My own mom had problems with cocaine in her teens and early twenties before I was born.

For myself, my addiction right now is methamphetamine and various ADHD medications. I've been an addict pretty much since the day I turned 18, starting with cigarettes and then into marijuana, cocaine, alcohol, ketamine, LSD, X, heroin, and eventually methamphetamines.

 

[swmo]

aye.

 

[8L4YN3]

Dad is an alcoholic, grandma is, 2 of my aunties(father's sisters) are alcoholics one of dads brothers. my uncle is a methadone+heroin addict.

So i guess it's possible as i'm now an opiate addict.. Been using drugs alot since i was 14, but really i can't say with any degree of certainty if the 'gene' even exists and if it plays a role in some of my lifes choices. I hate to lay the blame elsewhere, i blame myself for my actions.

Sometimes i wonder though if just a small percentage of me was predisposed to this sort of thing who knows.

 

[silvercrimson]

i definatley come from a family with history of addiction. both alcohol and drugs. obesity also runs pretty rampid on my dads side of the family.nobody from my dads side of the family has lived to be 60.

 

[unsettled]

There are a lot of Alcoholics on both sides of my family, I don't know about other drugs. There is also a history of depression on my mom's side and some mental illness on my dad's side although I don't know all the details. My parents were never addicts, they enjoy having some drinks but in a joyous way, they are both very good at moderation, however my aunts on both sides are raging alcoholics with major depression problems.

My grandfather was an alcoholic his entire adult life. My last memory of him was taking him to the liquor store while his hands were shaking from DT's, I was a teenager and he died about a week after that incident but he was in his seventies. He was a fully functional alcoholic up until the end when his second wife died.

My sister and I are extremely addiction prone, I went more for the drugs and she went more for the ocd eating disorder stuff. We both are aware of our addictive personalities and we both see psychiatrists and are on meds.