Essay Genetic and Environmental Contributions to Substance Abuse

I grew up being told that addiction runs in the family and that it is inherited. The Etiology and Natural History of Alcoholism article (n.d.) does, in fact, mention that genetics play a role but other factors such as social, psychological, and environmental are also reasons to contribute to addiction. In turn, genes are not solely supported as the only cause for susceptibility. In fact, “[m]ost offspring of an alcoholic parent DO NOT develop alcohol use problems or disorders in their lifetime.” (Module 2: Etiology and Natural History of Alcoholism, n.d.)

Addictions are a diverse set of common and complex diseases that are to some extent tied together by shared genetic and environmental factors. Addiction includes alcohol use disorders, cannabis and cocaine use disorders, nicotine dependence, as well as non-substance–related behaviors. Both genetic and environmental variables contribute to the use and abuse of addictive substances, which may eventually lead to addiction.

Alcoholism is identified by severe dependence or addiction and cumulative patterns of characteristic behaviors. An alcoholic’s frequent intoxication is obvious and destructive; interfering with the ability to socialize and work. These behavior patterns may lead to loss of work and relationships (Merck, 1999). Strong evidence suggests that alcoholism runs in families (Schuckit, 2009). According to a study published by Schuckit (1999) monozygotic twins were at a significantly higher risk of alcoholism if one twin was an alcoholic. Ehlers, Lind, and Wilhelmsen (2008) conducted a study to investigate the influence a single opioid receptor on alcohol dependence rates among Native Americans. Ehlers, et al. (2008) noted that people with lower

Children are most likely to abuse alcohol if their family tolerates deviance in general or encourages excitement and pleasure seeking (Morris & Maisto, pg. 156) (Finn, Sharkansky, Brandt, & Turcotte, 2000)

It involves various factors, theories, and health risks, all of which are the foundations of personal philosophies of how addiction works. From a psychological perspective, numerous theories and explanations that deal with addiction exist. According to Burns (1997) as cited in Hanson, Venturewlli, and Fleckenstein (2009), “the explanations can include escape from reality, boredom, inability to cope with anxiety, destructive self-indulgence, to the point of constantly desiring intoxicants, blind compliance with drug-abusing peers, self-destructiveness, and conscious and unconscious ignorance regarding the harmful effects” (p. 57). Substance use disorders, such as alcohol, have indeed been linked to genetic and other biological components; however, this link was nourished and shaped by psychological, cultural, and social comments. For a theory to be truly effective, it must provide more, be more, than a mere acknowledgement a genetic predisposition. Rather, it should encompass their culture and lifestyles, immediate environmental influences, community and social

The article by Bierut et al. (2010) is a discovery science article, in which there are no hypotheses tested. This article focuses on alcohol dependence and the genetic influences that contribute. Various case subjects were used to analyze the results from, the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA). In this genome-wide

“There is no such gene or genes present in an individual with addiction. Even if a person’s father or mother or both are addicts, it does not mean, children will be too. The fact is that most people get addicted due to the influence of their environment or to experience it for the first time. The addiction gene gives a false sense of confidence and paradoxically discourages others from seeking treatment.”

I agree with the argument that the role of family and genetic/personality disposition can be an explanation for drug abuse. I agree with this because I believe that people are who they surround themselves with. Therefore, when people grow up around those who are drug users, they are likely to become one as well. As for the genetic aspect, I believe this can sometimes be a key cause to addiction and abuse because it is in a person's genetic makeup.

Genetic indicators of alcohol and substance dependence presently used in an attempt to further explain alcohol and drug dependency. It’s an early inception of alcohol-related problems, greater severity of dependence, poly-drug use, severe chronic treatment history, psychopathological dysfunction,

According to Walsh (2012), experimentation with alcohol and drugs is the most prominent risk to becoming a substance abuser. There are neurologists and mental health professions that agree some people are more susceptible than other people to becoming addicted to substances because of genetic, biological, or environmental differences. Some of these risk factors include, but are not limited to: family history of substance abuse, mental disorders, childhood trauma, and early experimentation with substances. Even someone who does not have these risk factors but experiments with substances can still become addicted.

There may be several factors that contribute to an individual becoming addicted. Research has found that genetics may have a significant amount of responsibility in this event. According to Volkow and Li (2005), 40-60% of vulnerability to addiction is due to genetic components. This number not only considers the effects of genes themselves but also the effects of gene-environment interactions. Individuals may have a genetic factor that puts them at a higher risk for becoming addicted, however, the environment in which these individuals grow up in may be the determining factor in the end. The individual may learn certain behaviors from an addicted parent, have easy access to drugs and alcohol in the home, or may be left unattended or given too much freedom from parental control at an early age. These scenarios may be considered high-risk environments for starting drugs at an early age or the individual may

Shao, et al. (2006), tested and found that those with the DRD4 VNTR long repeat allele were more likely to crave heroin after seeing heroin related stimuli, than with the similar DRD4 VNTR short repeat allele. This type of research provides information to future researchers to study this particular allele and perhaps find a “cure” for heroin addiction. While this may not be the only part of the human body that shows addiction tendencies towards heroin, it is a stepping-stone towards a future of understanding heroin addiction and maybe generalizes that information towards addictions

can be treated in accordance to their illness. In drug addiction, there is not a specific addiction gene that can be identified as the cause of an addiction (“Genes”).

Alcoholism is derived roughly 50-60% from genes (#2). Genes impact a person’s alcohol tolerance and craving levels; the higher these two factors, the likelier he or she is to develop addiction (#5). Geneticists have uncovered alcoholism-inducing genes via linkage analysis, in which genomes from alcoholic and nonalcoholic members of families with histories of alcoholism were scanned at 400 areas. This technique helped researchers to locate quantitative trait loci, 10- to 20-million-base-pair–long nucleotide strands suspected to include the genes triggering

in the risk of alcoholism and drug abuse. Genetically if a member of your family had a problem