Understanding The Psychology Of Addiction And Alcoholism
Really understanding and getting to the root of the causes of alcoholism and drug addiction isn't straightforward - because they are complex illnesses by nature.
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.
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 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.
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.
Of course that won't always be the case and I'm sure you'll find many drug addicts and alcoholics who came from stable, loving and supportive environments. But when looking at alcoholism and psychology - and trying to understand the psychology of alcoholism and drug addiction, hopefully you'll now have a better understanding of things.
