Alcoholism and Genetics

Alcoholism and Genetics - photo chaserpaul

Judging by my experiences with Jane I have to conclude the a tendency to alcoholism is inherited, which when compounded by questionable early parenting, can drive the person to becoming an alcoholic sometimes.

It is surprising, though, that we still don't know for sure if Alcoholism and Genetics go together, meaning that some people are predisposed to alcoholism due to their genetic make up. Considering the massive amount of depression and unhappiness alcoholism causes and the damage it does to society you'd have thought more work would have been done. Maybe it's also about commerce. The amount of tax the governments collect from booze is astonishing. Society needs alcoholics to keep the buses running. Alcoholics are a rather irritating side effect of the need to sell booze to raise taxes.

I also wonder if it is wider than a simple gene making people alcoholics - that's too simplistic. I know this sounds a bit amateurish but I wonder if the chaotic mind, the ill disciplined mind is the kind of mind that lends itself to becoming dependent on alcohol.

It's a simple formula really. A mind that is chaotic is less likely to cope in this world. The people who so called "succeed" in life are control freak types. They like it their way, just right. They put demands on themselves to raise the bar and they often demand similar standards of others if they are in a position to dictate. They have well disciplined minds, strong minds. In sport it is the sportsman or woman who has the strongest mind who wins all other things being equal. Look at Nadal the No 2 ranked tennis player for example and Tiger Woods the ultimate example of a strong minded person, you wouldn't see him on the first tee drunk!!

This quality is almost certainly instilled in the person through training (parental upbringing) built on a genetic predisposition to be more disciplined - a bit of both really.

Jane my alcoholic partner is incredibly messy and untidy. She is not only alcoholic but totally unable to keep things in order. Left alone she descends into a complete mess, living like a tramp. You know those stories of people (usually old people) who live in filthy houses surrounded by newspapers and feces. Yup, that'll be Jane one day if she is not careful and lasts that long. Alcoholism and Genetics do go together as does untidiness and genetics but genes are only part of the story.

It is an external manifestation of an internal chaos.

This ill discipline is also manifested in the lack of ability to stop drinking beyond a certain point. Most of us like a drink and drink a bit to feel a bit "glazed over" for a while but we know that too much leads to a downside that is bigger than the upside and stop. It is rational and ordered. Alcoholics don't know when to stop. This leads them down the path to alcoholism as more and more alcohol is needed to get the effect desired. Once addiction has taken hold it is over and out.

Jane is feeling really remorseful and p*ss*d off about her mini-binge a couple of days ago when she drank a bottle of wine in about 2 hours after coming back from the supermarket. Wine is not strong enough for her normally but if she is buying some for me she'll drink some of it sometimes. Which begs the question should she buy wine for me? It makes no difference actually. If she wants it she'll buy it and it won't be wine - too weak.

She's also upset that she might not get the flat panel HD TV I promised of she stopped drinking until just beyond Christmas 2008. One more mini-binge and she has agreed that she won't get it and she like her TV especially in bed. Conclusion: Alcoholism and Genetics go together as does a poor upbringing and alcoholism.

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