That's because it's hereditary.
I actually don't believe this either .... in the usual sense. It is "hereditary" in that kids of alcoholics tend to be alcoholics ... but that is mostly through learned behavior - much in the same way that most child abusers were abuses as children. There is no "child abuser" gene that I know of.
We've heard much about the "alcoholism gene", but i've seen offsping of alcoholics have no problem, and the offspring of tee-totalers have polydrug addictions including alcohol.
There is another theory that says that if your kid likes to spin and get dizzy until they fall down, this indicates that they have the "alcohol gene", and should be watched carefully for addictive behavior later in life.
I think most of it is nonsense. Some people enjoy the effects of alcohol more than other. Depressed people enjoy it more than non-depressed people. Anxious people enjoy it more than non-anxious people.
The "alcoholism gene" is usually a different inherited underlying problem such as depression and anxiety (which pre-disposes one to alcohol abuse) ... and is not a seperate gene in and of itself. I don't believe that people are born to crave alcohol, but that alcohol may treat underlying disorders that people are born with.
Then again, some people may say there is no difference. Though technically, there is.
Alcoholism absolutely runs in my family...long history of people every generation dealing with it...but as they told me in a drug class my son had to attend...even if you don't come from a background where substance abuse is common, put enough of that stuff in your system often enough, and you too will be addicted.
I didn't have a drinking problem, cause I chose not to make it one.
But I did have a 3 pack a day cigarette problem, which I kicked 8 years ago, almost 9 years. It's not easy. Detoxing is hard, but it just takes time.
The question really is: once you detox are you going to live clean, or go back into your substance problem?
My brother has both an alcohol problem (he binge drinks, but not often enough to get addicted, thank goodness), and has tried to quit smoking multiple times. Once, he had a medical condition that kept him off cigarettes for months. But he went back anyway.
The real disease problem (mental compulsion, or whatever you want to call it) comes not after you detox, but what happens after that...addictive behavior leads one to go back into the substance of choice, or sometimes, to substitute some other behavior.
It's still a choice. If you know you're going to drink, and then you drive and commit vehicular homicide, you are guilty of making very bad choices, especially the driving while under the influence.
Alcoholism doesn't make someone drink and drive. That's choice.
No. It's because their parents were alcoholics.