How come I became a heroin addict? How come I did, and neither one of my two sisters who grew up in the same household, raised by the same parents did?
It is a discussion we often have in treatment and I have heard some professionals who believe that it is genetics. On the other hand as well though, there are others that disagree. Personally, I feel that there is something to the gene pool.
I have met a lot of people who, as I complete their assessment and ask if there is any history of alcoholism or addiction in the family, say “Yes,” either a mother, father, aunt, uncle, brother, or sister. I feel that certain people are predisposed because of genetics to become an addict or an alcoholic.
I look back on my beginnings and I think about the people that I started dabbling into drugs and alcohol with, and I always ask myself, “How come I continued on to become a full-blown addict and they continued on with their lives?” Some of them never even used drugs past eighteen; some of them to this day can have that social glass of wine or even smoke a joint. That being said, I truly do believe that there is something to be said about genetics, meaning that there are certain people like myself that once they try mood altering chemicals, they have the x-factor which causes them to become addicts.
I quite often wonder that if I am right about addiction and genetics, will my children be affected by it. They have grandparents that were alcoholics and parents that were addicts, and I believe the only way to battle genetics is to try to keep my kids from experimenting as I did. If what I believe is right about this, then one of them has that x-factor gene and could be the addictive personality.
The ultimate question in this ongoing debated subject is: Is addiction genetics or is it based on the individual?
