Though not entirely hereditary, substance abuse disorder often runs in families. Like cancers and other chronic diseases, it’s rare that only one family member develops an addiction. Fortunately, genetic risk factors only predict addiction and do not guarantee it. One family member suffering from substance use disorder doesn’t mean all of their descendants will face the same hurdle. 

For example, a healthy home environment helps ensure someone with high genetic risk nevertheless grows up without developing an addiction. Conversely, childhood trauma may drive someone into an addiction even if they have a low-risk family. And sometimes, both environment and genetics play a part. A parent predisposed to and suffering from addiction models unhealthy behavioral patterns for their children, who normalize and imitate those habits. 

Expression and Epigenetics: Addiction-Predicting Genes 

Addiction is absolutely, undeniably genetic. But no single “addiction gene” exists. Every gene with the tiniest influence on chemical metabolism, psychological tendencies, or even nerve cell structure alters genetic addiction risk in subtle ways. 

Cytochrome P450 2A6

No gene has a stronger association with addiction, according to current scientific understanding, than CYP2A6. It doesn’t influence behavior whatsoever, which makes it yet another example of how addiction is a brain disease. 

CYP2A6 regulates chemical processes that control how well the body absorbs nicotine, the leading ingredient in cigarettes and tobacco products. People with an efficient nicotine metabolism need to smoke more cigarettes, and smoke more often, to have the same effect as someone with a weaker nicotine uptake. When they start smoking, they have a higher tolerance than others. Higher tolerance development is a core part of addiction progression, so this gene’s expression gives some people a “head start” down the path to nicotine addiction. 

ADH1B and ALDH2 work similarly for alcohol, though the studied correlations are not as strong.

Dopamine Receptor D2 

DRD2 regulates dopamine release and, in turn, controls impulsivity. Impulsivity measures an individual's tendency to pursue immediate rewards or practice delayed gratification. More dopamine (the “happy chemical”) granted by impulsive actions reduces self-control and risk assessment. Certain DRD2 expressions literally make people lessl likely to understand the consequences of their actions in pursuit of “cheap” dopamine release. 

Non-Genetic Addiction Factors 

Around 50% of addiction tendency comes from genetic factors. The rest comes from a person’s surroundings, upbringing, and own, personal life experience. 

Family Life 

Children learn from their parents. An otherwise low-risk child in a home affected by addiction is more likely to develop an addiction themselves even without genetic factors. If they have children while dealing with a second-generationaddiction, the grandchildren are also at higher risk. One generation influences the next, and the cycle perpetuates.  

Addiction persists through generations because children come to see addiction’s dysfunctional behaviors as normal. Children learn how to act from their parents in a psychological process called behavioral modeling. When they can’t recognize the harm addiction does to themselves and their families, they’re likely to fall into the same patterns as adults.

Mental Health 

Addiction often comes from misguided attempts at coping with mood disorders and trauma. Parental addictions lead to traumas like: 

• Divorce 
• Parental overdose and death 
• Prolonged emotional or physical abuse
• Traumatic foster caare and rehoming experiences 

The direct consequences of their parents’ addictions drive affected children right to them same unhealthy coping mechanisms. Because of behavioral modeling, they may not know what healthy coping mechanisms look like or how to develop them. 

But they can learn how to cope. 

Breaking Generational Addiction Cycles is Possible 

Genes and family history increase the risk of addiction. But they don’t guarantee it. A person who inherited high addiction risk can take proactive steps to interrupt the cycle before it harms them or their children. Prevention takes self-awareness and the willingness to be vulnerable with and learn from doctors and peers, and the strength to make hard choices. 

Proactive Treatment 

One of the strongest defenses is a good offense. Discuss your family history and potential risks with your doctor to identify potential behavioural or health problems before they manifest. Consider beginning therapy to preempt crises, identify possible triggers, and unpack trauma and mood disorders that co-occur with substance use.  

Improved Environments 

Identify the people and places that make life harder and work to cut them out. Find sources of emotional instability, violated boundaries, and other unmanageable stressors, and cut them out. People often turn to addictive substances to cope with their difficult circumstances. Easier circumstances mean less need to cope. 

Education 

Recognizing the signs and matching them to past parental behavior allows at-risk people to recognize when they’re about to make the same mistake. Work to reframe addiction as a disease that can be inherited instead of the fault of any one person, including family members. Recharacterizing addiction as a disease makes it easier to let go of blame, both for parents and for yourself. 

Never Alone Recovery Breaks the Cycle by Finding Insurance-Approved Rehab 

Dedicated to supporting families of people with a substance use disorder who want to help their loved one break away from generational trauma, the Never Alone program connects patients to people ready to help. 

It offers helpful resources, such as a free online support group that meets every Wednesday at 7:00 PM CST. There, you can surround yourself with people who truly know what you’re going through and are more than ready to encourage you to take the next steps. Never Alone also maintains extensive intervention-planning resources, allowing families to prepare for a difficult but rewarding conversation with a vulnerable loved one. 

When they’re ready to start treatment, Never Alone is there too. The addiction recovery consultant hotline will locate rehabs that take insurance, so your family can find affordable care.