Society and Substance Abuse: Nature vs Nurture

Nature Argument: Genetic Dispositions for Addiction

“We have not yet isolated the factors responsible for the difference in addiction liability; one factor seems to be passed on from generation to generation” (Volkow, 2012). In 1967, early genetic research proposed by Nichols and Hsiao suggested that a genetic factor might help explain the development of addiction in individuals.

Today, the research has exploded, increasing dramatically every year as research based on previous research exponentially raises the amount of data scientists can pull. Despite the advances in technology and the increase in understanding of how we humans work, science is still some ways from finding the gene responsible, if it is a single gene at that.

“When exposed to high psychosocial adversity, male individuals in our study with the LL genotype of the serotonin transporter length polymorphism exhibited more dangerous drinking behavior than those carrying the S allele or those without exposure to adversity. While the L allele relates more strongly to early-onset alcoholism, the S allele may be more closely linked to alcohol use associated with anxiety and depression.” (Spanagel, 2010)

The above exert suggests that even without the smoking gun of genetic markers proving a genetic factor that results in addiction, some evidence is accumulating that points to addiction and addictive behaviors as causes of owning a specific genetic code.

Further genetic research states that “existing knowledge from twin studies that indicate both the substantial heritability of substance-specific addictions and the genetic overlap across addiction to different substances.” (Agrawal, 2012)

The addition of different substances seems to point to a causal relationship between different genes. Determining how all these genes interact or don’t interact with each other, other critical genes regarding behaviors that, for instance, suggest a role in regulating stress, have yet to be determined.

Science is never about proof but about theory, a way to explain the world around us. We have yet to establish any clear theory that explains the relationship between genetics and addiction. As far as the role of certain genes in the development of addictions, there are more than a few bright signs, but no conclusive theory has yet to be established. Researchers still propose that “the heritability of substance use is moderate to high” (Jacequeling M. Vink, 2016).

Nurture Argument: Environment Influences Addiction

Imagine getting up in the middle of the night as a young child because you had a bad dream and you’re scared. You find your mom, but she’s passed out on the couch or bathroom floor.
As you get older, the adults around you drink with dinner, after work, by themselves, or use other substances in combination. You ask for advice on how to handle the stress associated with school or friends, and they can’t come up with anything except to numb the pain “with this” as they hand you a drink, smoke, or whatever else.

People who grow up surrounded by substance abuse are at a grievous disadvantage. The critical lessons about interacting with others and the world, in general, are not learned. Instead, the person may pick up unhealthy coping skills in response to stressful, even normal, life events.

As the person gets older and experiences stress similar to their parents — money, relationships, etc., they might be invited to join the parents in drinking or using. The individual begins using substances to handle life experiences at a young age.

Alternatively, they might be banned from the practices of the adults. It can prove detrimental as the individual has no other coping skills. They might proceed to use other substances or hide and lie about using. This promotes dishonesty, lack of trust, and discord within the family, which collectively has few or no healthy coping skills to handle such problems.

Domestic abuse and trauma also contribute to substance abuse. Any traumatic event that plagues a person’s psyche can lead to various cognitive distortions, mood issues, self-esteem issues, and problems with belonging, bonding, and relationships.

Substance abuse and domestic abuse are often correlated, but not always. Either way, the lessons that such dysfunction teaches the children are not good. Low self-worth, violence over communication, used to escape reality, discrimination against certain sex or ethnicity, and a host of other maladaptive and down-right wrong ideas.

It has been said that to raise a child, a village is required. However, when devastated by substance abuse, that village — or neighborhood — has little to offer the younger generation. Often, a neighborhood steeped in substance abuse and addiction also sees significant crime, which brings in a whole other universe of problems.

Gangs, drug dealers, poverty, and little in the way of healthy influences sets the children in that neighborhood up for failure later on. A suburban neighborhood of pill-popping socialites is not much better. Both teach the wrong lesson about how to overcome life’s struggles. The difference, though, is the more affluent, the more access to other influences and the better the person’s chances.

Generations of drug and Alcohol abuse rarely result in anything but a family history of early death, disease, and incarceration. No matter the starting point, few families can withstand repeated abuse of substances and each other.