In the mood to tackle a really difficult question? Then let’s try and tackle a big one: What’s the cause of alcoholism? Like most things — including alcoholism itself — it’s complicated. There’s no simple, scientific conclusion that neatly answers the question.
Science shows that the causes of alcohol abuse are a mix of nature and nurture. Your genes can be a significant factor, and so too can the external forces in your day-to-day life; how you were raised versus your current lifestyle, can play a role in determining your
likelihood of becoming an alcoholic. In short, your alcoholism is likely a result of internal and external causes.
When Does Drinking Become Alcoholism?
In case you didn’t mean to stumble onto a philosophical query, there is actually a rather straightforward cause of what causes alcoholism. To try and put it simply, alcohol triggers the release of dopamine and serotonin—two feel-good hormones that your brain always wants more of (hello cravings).
However, while you might feel good while drinking, your body is dealing with the ensuing chaos alcohol causes to your heart, liver, digestive tract, hormones, and virtually every other part of your body. The harder and more frequently you drink, the more your body must work to overcompensate for its effects (quick reminder: alcohol acts as a depressant in many ways which slows down functions related to the central nervous system.
This sounds handy, but eventually, your body becomes conditioned to operating with alcohol in your system and working harder to keep you functioning as normal. So when you don’t have alcohol in your system, the whole thing goes haywire and your body is now working fast and furiously to overcompensate for a substance that isn’t there.
How To Tell if You’re an Alcoholic
The most obvious sign that you’ve become addicted to alcohol is a physical one: withdrawal. This is a sign that your body has developed a physiological tolerance to the substance and has become accustomed to functioning with alcohol in your system.
What takes alcohol abuse to the next level of addiction is once psychological dependence sets in. This occurs once maintaining your alcohol consumption becomes the top priority trumping your job, your family, and even your own health.
Possible Causes of Alcohol Abuse
The possible causes of alcohol abuse fall into a few main camps. The first, the biological component, we already covered. People can have a genetic predisposition inherited from the immediate family that puts them at a greater risk of developing alcohol (more on how this works later).
For others, it’s not so much a genetic fate but rather circumstantial; a toxic job or a bad relationship that puts you under chronic stress, or simply a lifestyle that’s so deeply intertwined with drinking that it can seem impossible to extricate yourself from one or the other.
A third, sort of hybrid between both of those potential factors is the psychological circumstances that can potentially cause alcoholism. These can be mental health disorders (which are strongly influenced by genetics), low self-esteem, or experiences with trauma.
It’s most likely that a combination of these factors is the likely cause of a person’s alcoholism.
Biological Influences
Your genes can determine a lot more than whether you look more like your mother or father, the color of your eyes, or how tall you will be. There are several genes that have a direct correlation to your potential risk of developing a drinking problem.
Some relate to stress. Certain people are lower stress thresholds than others; incidents that most other people could shrug off might send these individuals over the edge. This greater sensitivity to stress can increase a person’s proclivity to reach for a drink (though drinking can actually do the exact opposite and make you feel even more agitated).
Different genes can actually make a person more likely to get hooked on a substance—regardless of what it is. Other genes can spell an increased sensitivity to alcohol, which increases the odds of addiction.
How Common are Alcohol Problems in America?
If you have a drinking problem, it may comfort (and also disturb you a little) you to know that you’re far from alone. Alcoholism is one of the most common types of addiction in the U.S. It’s estimated to affect over 3 million Americans annually, approximately 10% of the entire population aged 12 or older.
Sadly, addiction isn’t even the worst of it. On average, 141,000 Americans die from alcoholism each year with 385 deaths each day. These tragedies are avoidable, find an alcohol rehab near you.
https://drugabusestatistics.org/alcohol-abuse-statistics/
