SOC217 Alcohol and Drugs, Unit 2.2: Genetic and Environmental Factors Related to Substance Abuse.
Please discuss how genetics and environmental factors are linked together and how both contribute to substance abuse. What are the known genetic risk factors associated with substance abuse? What are the known environmental influences associated with substance abuse? How do the two interact to ultimately create a substance use disorder? Provide specific examples highlighting the reciprocal relationship genetics and environmental factors play on substance use.
My personal opinion is that substance abuse is not genetic and is not a part of a person’s DNA. What I have seen is that substance abuse is more learned and taught inside a family and gradually accepted as a behavior that is tolerated. I have seen friends who parents were addicts with severe alcohol problems. The children developed some alcohol abuse, and even as far as going to AA rehab. They were able to stop drinking, but their parents continued drinking and using drugs.
“Since parents pass on certain genes to their children, certain diseases that are linked to genetics might be said to “run” in the family.6 Changes in DNA and genes can affect the risk for certain diseases, but it’s a complex story, and DNA can even be “remodeled” by exposure to different environmental factors. Some diseases, like cystic fibrosis, occur due to mutations in a single gene. However, many conditions, including addiction and other health complications, are thought to develop as a result of several potential genetic and environmental factors, as well as the interplay between these various influences.
What this means is that even if you have a family history of addiction, you’re not necessarily guaranteed to develop an addiction. You need to have access to the drug, use it repeatedly, and be exposed to certain environmental influences in order to develop an addiction. In general, genes are thought to account for about half of a person’s risk of addiction.” (Mosel, S., 2024)
References:
Mosel, S., 2024, American Addiction Center, Is Drug Addiction Genetic, https://americanaddictioncenters.org/rehab-guide/addiction-genetic
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