Is Addiction Hereditary and What Does This Mean for My Son?

The question "is addiction hereditary" is a significant one for me. I have a two year old son and the idea of him following my footsteps and becoming an alcoholic, or other type of addict, does concern me. My boy is growing up in a completely different environment than what I grew up with; I spent the first half of my life in rainy Dublin, and he is growing up in sunny Thailand. The fact is though, that genetics does seem to play a big part in addiction, and I was not the first drunk in my family; at least one of my grandparents was a hopeless lush.

My own father was always worried about my drinking even before I touched the stuff. Somebody had told him that alcoholism skipped a generation and so he watched me like a hawk. I suppose it didn't turn out to be such a surprise when I entered my first treatment centre at twenty years old. At the time I blamed my father for creating a self-fulfilling prophecy; I sort of felt that my path had been determined long before my first drink, and I was just living up to expectations. I later realised that this was unfair and that I had been fascinated with alcohol from my moment I knew of its existence; it was like I was born with the need for the escape that alcohol offered.

The current consensus is that genetics definitely plays a part in addiction; some wise expert has decided on the figure of 50% genetics and 50% environment. I can see how that works, but I also disagree with some of the conclusions. As I say, it sometimes feels like I was born with this propensity to run into addiction as a means of escaping life; if I hadn't have been born into a drinking culture then it would have been something else. This is why I don't really see the point in banning things to stop addiction, because where there is an addict there is a way.

There is nothing that I can do about my son's genetics; he seems doubly cursed because his Thai grandfather has had his own frequent battles with the demon drink and loses. I am not going to allow my worries to interfere with his life too much. When he is old enough I will teach him about the dangers of addiction, and I will try and be the best example that I can. Other than that what else can I do? The question of "is addiction hereditary' doesn't seem to offer any practical solutions.