Why do some abuse and some do not?

[worried878]

Was just reading a post...and was thinking..."Why can some take narcotics for pain, and are able to take em or leave em..some dont even like how they make them feel....in reality, nmost people who use do not become addicted to them...seems like it is that way to us as we are addicts..but most people can use safely after a surgery or even for back pain as needed and never become addicted to narcotics...some may become dependent on them after long term use..but quitting is so much easier as a rule cos they dont have the mental component of addiction...why do u think people abuse?  I think it is sumpin in our brain chemistry/also i belive it can be genetic to a certain degree...for instance having an alcoholic in ur family tree

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69%

 (18) 

brain chemistry or genetic make up

30%

 (8) 

everyone is prone to addiction /no difference in people's chemical make up

26 Members voted

[ProdigalGirl]

IMO, I do believe it is a combination of factors. For one, I believe it is most certainly genetic. I have alcoholics on both sides of my family. Very addictive genes there. I have 4 siblings. Two of us children are addicts. Why did the other two turn out ok? Not sure bout that one. Second factor is an overwhelming majority of addicts are self medicating due to mental illness, problems in life, things of that nature. Interestingly though I have a friend that is a funtioning alcoholic and hates pain meds. She says they make her feel sick. But, in the true nature of addiction, alcohol is her doc. Some people have such addictive personalities that they abuse both alcohol and drugs. Seems some people just self destruct with whatever takes away their pain and the ramifications are ten fold for this majority. So to answer your question is a the combination that I mentioned above imo.


ProdigalGirl

[allaboutmary]

Sometimes I think it's just timing.  I took pain pills so many times after surgeries etc. and never had a problem. Never asked for a refill.  The time that I got addicted I was in a different frame of mind ( in the middle of a divorce) depressed.  I was also getting older and didn't have the same amount energy. The pills gave me that energy and made me calm about my divorce. That's my story and I'm stickin to it. lol

[jollyman069]

I read a study once that said people with type A personalitys are more likely to become addicted..now if they knew what they were talking about i dont know...all i know is that i thought i was doing things the right way going to a pain specialist and after 3 years i was an addict took my stupid self another year to quit..

[TrayCee]

When scientists look for "addiction genes," what they are really looking for are biological differences that may make someone more or less vulnerable to addiction.
It may be harder for people with certain genes to quit once they start. Or they may experience more severe withdrawal symptoms if they try to quit. Factors that make it harder to become addicted also may be genetic. For example, an individual may feel sick from a drug that makes other people feel good.
But someone's genetic makeup will never doom them to inevitably become an addict. Remember, environment makes up a large part of addiction risk.

[cattalina]

I agree with some of the other posts - combination of factors, environment, timing, genetics. Most importantly I think it has to do with how we operate psychologically. People who have suffered thru any kind of trauma are more likely to become addicted. Like Mary said - she was depressed around the time she got addicted. I suffered abuse as a child so I was psychologically and emotionally broken when I started doing drugs... It's the mental part that defines addiction vs. dependency, so IMO that's the aspect that weighs the most but I think all the factors have to be in play. What's really cool is the new research being done like traycee said, it would be huge to get more insight into what our brains are actually doing up there! There's so much that the medical community doesn't know about the brain and if some of those mysteries could be solved it would make a huge impact and, I belive, save lives in the long run.
Good post worried!

[dominosarah]

I dont know if i was born with it or my brain is miss firing somewhere......all i know is i am a recovering addict and that is what i have to focus on.......sara

[jakegorzen]

They "whoever the might be" did a study, and the theroy is that some peoples brains dont make enough of those certain chemicals, so its the brain subconsciously "at first" fixing the problem, then of course the brain then relys on it to do all the work because it gets lazy and doesnt want to make ANY, lol
causing withdraws and cravings

Coke is considererd one of the best mood stabalizers, look at Freud, he used to tell his people to snort a line when they fealt bad, he himself used.

[refusingbondage]

In my opinion, addicts are born with something extra, or something less but definitely different.. Genetics play a part for sure.  I used drugs with many people.. who never became addicts - I did.  In our younger years, many of us experimented with drugs.. why I couldn't STOP and others did is a mystery, but it must be something physical in my opinion.

Yes, I do agree environment CAN play a part but Im not so sure if its that big of one.  I know a lot of people from good families, wealthy homes and loving parents who are suffering junkies.. I also know some people, like my fiancee, who suffered abuse of all kinds as a child and is not an addict.  He is one of 7 and each and every one of these kids suffered some form of abuse (him the worst as he is the oldest and his biological mother mellowed out later on in life) but they all suffered some kind of psychological and emotional trauma.  He suffered it also, along with physical and sexual abuse.  Neither he, or any of his brothers and sisters, are addicts.  In fact he does smoke cigarettes and drinks on occassion but none of them are drinkers and he is the only one to smoke cigs.. I always thought it is amazing how this family has soo many problems - bipolar issues etc and none of them turn to drugs.. so it kind of makes me think less environment and more physical... But I dont know..perhaps its this - not all people with emotional issues (*abuse trauma etc) will become addicts, but most addicts have suffered some sort of emotional issues (*abuse trauma etc)..

It definitely peeks my interest though. It ***** to be on this side of the population.. I wish I wasn't an addict.  But Ive accepted I am.  But I'd love to know why!

[liscamdave]

Both of my parents were drug addicts and both raging alchoholics. For fear of becoming an addict based soley on my genes, I steered clear of drugs. I did start to drink, socially and I mean socially, which was a weekend only thing. I never got addicted. The only time in my life I drank more then two days in a row was on vacations. As I got older, I drank less and less to where it was once a month.

However, with drugs, I made sure I never went near them. I smoked pot twice as a teen not really likeing it all that much. My first pill was at 24 and for a toothache and I was instantly hooked. So my parents liked alchohol and drugs and I only got addicted to the pills. Its weird. But again, I feared that I would one day become and addict because of my parents and I did. Now, am I blaming them...no...I don't know if its because its in my genes. Alchoholism (alcoholism) is also in my genetic make up and I don't even like to drink that much..

[theeagle]

I dont have even the slightest doubt that there is a genetic or inherited component to the addiction problem / issue ..........

[outotown]

I was a druggie when I was young drank all the time stoped it all in one day. Then went on to lead a normal life and out of the blue I was hit with deep depression, and then injured and the frist time I took a lortab and a soma togather I was hooked it took away all the physical pain and I thought was helping my mental pain. And just so you know my back is still hurting very bad puts me down for the count for 2 and 3 days at a time this week was very stressful and I had to do alot of driving and sitting at the hospital and working, My wife had some old darvecets and I got em used about fourty in four days and now I want to die cuz I dont Think I can ever get off this dog gone roller coaster I feel like I let everyone down and I know it was just me that I hurt but im dying inside, I cant believe I did that sorry guys

[HACIMROXY]

My dad was a HORRIBLE HORRIBLE alcoholic. My grandma was a pill addict. Both my dad and mom smoked. (Dad died and mom quit).  

Here is my brother: Has NEVER smoked a cigarette, ever. Has really never drank (here and there but totally socially and rarely) And, has never touched a drug in his life.

Here is Me: Smoke a pack a day. Went thru a bad alcoholic stage...but, go sober (there) until i discovered opiates.  Now, am addicted to opiates.

That leads to me to believe it is an addictive trait/gene in  the family. However, we, the addicts, have to accept the responsibility, ultimately. Knowing my dad's addictive history and knowing that smoking, drinking and drugs are bad....I had a choice to make the first time i lit up a smoke, drank to get drunk and took pills other than for real pain. So, I blame myself knowing my family's history.  

[worried878]

My fathers dad, and my mothers parents, were alcoholics..neither of my parents drink tho as the alcoholism had that effect on them...they never wanted to touch it..guess it can go either way/abuse it or learn enuf to never touch it...i on the other hand, like mentioned above...loved to party when i was younger..always open to trying new things..be it bad or good unfortunately....when my son was old enuf to know what was going on..i stopped all drugs/mainly was a pot smoker/and had an occasional drink..and an occasional cig...then my divorce hit while i was in the middle of nursing school...the cigs became a habit and i drank much more heavily...hangovers were a curse for me or i would probably have become an alcoholic..maybe a good thing i feel so bad after i drink too much?  anyway...i slowed down on the drinking in my later 30s...put down the cigs at 40 (stil addicted to the mints tho) and tried my first lortab at age 44 or so/after a heartbreaking relationship ended..having a back condition i was able to get them//and i felt so good..then what i could get wasnt enuf...when i first started the pills 2.5 mgs would send me flying for the afternoon/boy does that change!  i was uip to 80-100 mgs in a matter of a few years...sometimes i think it is timing too/a bad stressor in life or a depressive event plus the genetics that can sink a ship that was sailing along..then rough waters hit and coping skills go out the window..fortunately i do have a built in control mechanism that will usually kick in before i go too far...but just wonder why drinking and drugs is a coping mechanism for some and not others?  mixture like everyone said i guess...scared me tho when my daughters marriage fell apart and she went on a 2 week binge/just about a binge anyway/she reached for alcohol big time....but she snapped out of it...but i saw myself in her when she did this...and i know they both/my son and my dtr/need to careful cos their other grandfather dies from alcoholism on their dads side...they r both doing great tho..hope we all stay that way!

[ProdigalGirl]

Drugs and drinking for sure played a role in me being so "tight lipped" about my relapse on the forum.  Thank God I was strong enough to say enough is enough and be honest with myself. Saying the words outloud to the forum that "I relapsed" has snapped me back into reality.

The truth of what transpired during my binge of drinking and using prescrition drugs has allowed me to take an inventory so to speak of what was the truth and what was putting a blinder over my eyes. I now see clearly and have made a plan to get my life together  . Genetics as I have stated before do certainly play a factor in all of this. Outside stressors of life are now a thing of the past for me. I am going to live for "me" now. I am not going to worry so to speak about other people's problems. I have made a couple close friends here on Medhelp that BELIEVE in me and what I tell them I plan on doing to fix these lies that were woven in my life. Thank you to my friends. You gave me the courage to tell the truth,,,, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

[Totsie59]

I am there with allaboutmary..I had surgeries and pain pills..never abused..Last yr had accident with a flare up from nerve damage..got my script..and just kept using...loved the feeling (at first). Loved the energy. Getting older and wanting to keep up the energy.

[theeagle]

Doc jeff told me that in  his practice as an addictionologist he has seem about three kinds of people .....  some were going to be addicted at some point to something - no doubt about it - some could go either way and channel their tendencies into something positive like science, teaching, the arts, something to get passionate about, or they might get fully involved in abuse and addiction - just a toss of the dice.  The lucky others dont have an addiction problem and wont develop one with a never ending bottle of oxy's around .... just doesnt happen for them.....