Can Addiction Run in Families?

Addiction is often seen passed down through the blood line…

It starts with the grandparents, then trickles down to your parents, then suddenly you find yourself at risk of becoming an addict.

But, is that really a thing or did your family just find themselves that unlucky that addiction has continued to affect everyone for generations?

While there are some outside contributions to addiction – and ultimately it is still your choice – addiction can run in the family.

There are two reasons that addiction runs in the family:

  1. Some people carry a predisposition in their genes for addiction, just making them overall more susceptible to addiction. Then, this predisposition can be passed down into the next generation.
  2. From a young age, the next generation sees the alcoholism or substance abuse and assumes it is okay. If addiction is the “family norm”, then it can be easily mistaken by a younger generation that an addicted lifestyle is just how people live. Furthermore, they will adopt that lifestyle and then the cycle repeats itself.

However, unlike cancer and other diseases and illnesses, there is no way to test to see if someone will become an addict – whether it is of drugs or alcohol.

The good news is that it is not guaranteed that all children who come from homes of addicted parents will become an addict themselves. However, they are at a much higher risk.

So, think about it…

Are you putting your family at risk? Could you actually be putting the next few generations of your family at risk?

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A Yale University professor found that habits are contagious…

If you eat healthy, your children will want to eat healthy.

If you are overweight, your children are more likely to be overweight.

If you value education and learning, your children most likely will, too.

Children are always watching and they are always picking up on what you do – big and small. So, by displaying an addiction, they are noticing it – even if they don’t say anything, it does not go unnoticed.

Consider what you are doing…would you want your child to grow up and be the same way?

Addiction is already tempting enough – social drinking can turn into an alcohol addiction, trying marijuana can lead to experimenting with other drugs…

In a world where drugs and alcohol are easily accessible, your children and family do not need any other things increasing their susceptibility to an addiction – the risks are already high enough.

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