Alcoholism - and any addiction for that matter is extremely complex. Getting to the root of what causes alcoholism and addiction certainly isn't straightforward.
Genetic factors and the fact that alcoholism and addiction is hereditary in many cases, certainly does play a role. But that only explains part of the story because ultimately we're all shaped by our environmental influences - parents, family, peers, experiences, media etc.
So when considering the impact our psychological makeup plays in drug addiction and alcoholism - our psychological makeup is largely formed in our formative childhood years - mostly from our family environment, particularly our parents.
If our family environment is generally loving, supportive and stable through our early years especially, we'll develop a healthy sense of self-esteem, feel generally comfortable in our own skin, and be relatively well-adjusted.
However, if our younger years are filled with some sort of trauma, instability or emotional turmoil - like there being alcoholism in the family, abuse, losing a loved one, our parents separating, or anything we regard as being traumatic - we tend to create all sorts of coping mechanisms to help us deal with that, which can then show up in our lives in a number of different ways.
This could mean you find yourself developing a whole bunch of stuff - which could be anything from depression to anger, anxiety, different kinds of eating disorders and naturally various forms of addiction, including drugs and alcohol.
If you speak to someone who has suffered from alcoholism or drug addiction, chances are there will be something pretty traumatic that happened to them when they were young. Having a parent that struggled with alcoholism was my main one - and obviously the impact that then had on our family.
Naturally it doesn't always happen that way. You'll find many cases, I'm sure, of alcoholics and drug addicts that were brought up in a loving, stable and supportive environment. But hopefully when considering alcoholism and psychology and trying to understand the psychology of addiction - everything will make a lot more sense for you. - 15252
Genetic factors and the fact that alcoholism and addiction is hereditary in many cases, certainly does play a role. But that only explains part of the story because ultimately we're all shaped by our environmental influences - parents, family, peers, experiences, media etc.
So when considering the impact our psychological makeup plays in drug addiction and alcoholism - our psychological makeup is largely formed in our formative childhood years - mostly from our family environment, particularly our parents.
If our family environment is generally loving, supportive and stable through our early years especially, we'll develop a healthy sense of self-esteem, feel generally comfortable in our own skin, and be relatively well-adjusted.
However, if our younger years are filled with some sort of trauma, instability or emotional turmoil - like there being alcoholism in the family, abuse, losing a loved one, our parents separating, or anything we regard as being traumatic - we tend to create all sorts of coping mechanisms to help us deal with that, which can then show up in our lives in a number of different ways.
This could mean you find yourself developing a whole bunch of stuff - which could be anything from depression to anger, anxiety, different kinds of eating disorders and naturally various forms of addiction, including drugs and alcohol.
If you speak to someone who has suffered from alcoholism or drug addiction, chances are there will be something pretty traumatic that happened to them when they were young. Having a parent that struggled with alcoholism was my main one - and obviously the impact that then had on our family.
Naturally it doesn't always happen that way. You'll find many cases, I'm sure, of alcoholics and drug addicts that were brought up in a loving, stable and supportive environment. But hopefully when considering alcoholism and psychology and trying to understand the psychology of addiction - everything will make a lot more sense for you. - 15252
About the Author:
Carl-Peter talks extensively on the Psychology of Alcoholism and Drug Addiction on his website. Articles of his that are particularly popular are the one on Depression and Alcoholism and the other one on Alcoholism and Anxiety.
