Alcoholism and drug addiction are complex illnesses. Getting to the bottom of their causes isn't straightforward.
Genetic factors certainly play a role - but I believe it's the impact of the environment that is most telling because ultimately we're shaped by our environment - parents and family especially, friends, experiences etc.
Now when looking at the role psychology plays in alcoholism and drug addiction - a large part of our psychological makeup is formed in our early childhood years. Primarily through our parents and family environment.
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.
But if our early years are fraught with turmoil, instability or trauma - whether it be through having an alcoholic parent for example, losing a loved one, parents divorcing, being abused, or anything else that may affect us emotionally - we tend to develop various coping mechanisms to deal with that, which can then manifest in a number of ways (not always immediately though).
This could be anything from depression, to various forms of eating disorders, anger, withdrawing into your shell, excessive worrying, and then naturally alcoholism and drug addiction too.
It's pretty likely that if you speak to an addict or alcoholic - that there will be something that happened when they were young that effected them pretty bad. For me having an alcoholic parent was tough to deal with - also because how that impacted 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.
Genetic factors certainly play a role - but I believe it's the impact of the environment that is most telling because ultimately we're shaped by our environment - parents and family especially, friends, experiences etc.
Now when looking at the role psychology plays in alcoholism and drug addiction - a large part of our psychological makeup is formed in our early childhood years. Primarily through our parents and family environment.
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.
But if our early years are fraught with turmoil, instability or trauma - whether it be through having an alcoholic parent for example, losing a loved one, parents divorcing, being abused, or anything else that may affect us emotionally - we tend to develop various coping mechanisms to deal with that, which can then manifest in a number of ways (not always immediately though).
This could be anything from depression, to various forms of eating disorders, anger, withdrawing into your shell, excessive worrying, and then naturally alcoholism and drug addiction too.
It's pretty likely that if you speak to an addict or alcoholic - that there will be something that happened when they were young that effected them pretty bad. For me having an alcoholic parent was tough to deal with - also because how that impacted 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.
About the Author:
CP's personal experience of drug addiction and alcoholism, led him to create his excellent website. His latest pieces that are a must read are the ten warning signs of alcoholism and living with an alcoholic
