What causes alcoholism?

We are dealing with a problem of alcohol abuse, harmful or risky drinking, when the substance is causing damage to health, both physically and mentally, either because the person abandons personal obligations, consumes in risky situations, causes legal problems, or because he/she continues to drink despite the associated negative consequences.

We speak of a severe alcohol use disorder, or what is commonly understood as alcoholism, when alcohol intake becomes the main axis that supports the rest of the person’s vital areas (social, work, family).

When we encounter one of these cases, it is important to see a psychologist.

Clinical characteristics of alcoholism

The use of psychoactive substances, in general, and alcohol, in particular, will be a determining factor in accurately assessing the severity of the addiction.

The main clinical characteristics of addiction are:

  • Tolerance to the substance, understood as the need to consume markedly increasing amounts to achieve the desired effect or the effect of the same amounts diminishes with continued consumption.
  • The appearance of withdrawal syndrome when prolonged use is interrupted or reduced. Its most common symptoms are nausea, sweating, tremors and anxiety.
  • Loss of control over the intake of the substance.
  • The appearance of insatiable and compulsive desire to drink alcohol.

In addition, the alcoholic spends most of the time obtaining, consuming and recovering from the effects of the substance.

Causes of alcoholism

The etiology of alcoholism is not known with certainty and accuracy. There are many causes that could contribute to the development of alcohol addiction. Experts point to a combination of genetic, psychosocial and environmental factors. However, the factors that initiate the problem do not necessarily coincide with the factors that maintain it.

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On the other hand, we can speak of a genetic disposition to a certain type of alcohol metabolism. It has been discovered that there is a very frequent gene in alcoholic people that favors the alcoholic person to have a less powerful adverse reaction to alcohol than a non-alcoholic person, i.e., what is known as “hangover” is less aversive than that of the non-alcoholic.

This would not be a pleasure gene but a gene of lesser displeasure. However, it is known that there is no cause-effect relationship but a probabilistic relationship, that is, of increased vulnerability, taking into account that approximately 40% to 50% of the offspring of an alcoholic parent develop an addiction to alcohol.