If your parent was an alcoholic

[dollygoo]

My parent was an alcoholic and in the end died from this. However I do worry my self about ending this way because of genetics. I am 30 years old and have one dc. I suppose is it common for this to occur genetically and what can you do to prevent this if you feel mentally well at the moment.

Just to add I do like alcohol and will drink a bottle of red wine perhaps once per month in one sitting for example at a dinner party.

My father was an alcoholic and I’m a recovering alcoholic and still struggling with addiction. Hoping my children won’t inherit this. I agree with the person saying it’s inter generational trauma too. I think it’s probably hard to differentiate because it all goes together.

My father was an alcoholic, and died of a heady mix of pancreatic damage and cirrhosis of the liver.

I hardly drink. The odd glass of something, on specific occasions, not for my own recreation.

But I know I have the propensity to addiction, I can feel it and how easy it is to slip into addictive behaviours, so I steer clear of things that I know could do me harm.

Oh and as PP have said, I hate being around drunk people. I find it deeply disquieting (almost disgusting, I think it's a stress-response).

Alcoholism has been handed down the last four generations in my family. Like my Dad I was a binge drinker and realised in my early 30s that it was a problem. I could drink a bottle of vodka in one evening and was having alcoholic black outs. Grim. I quit and replaced it with a codeine addiction for a few years then realised that I needed therapy to work out why I felt the urge to get obliterated on drugs.

Interestingly, I ended up marrying an alcoholic and didn't realise until we'd been married for 10 years. I woke up at 4am, sat up in bed and thought "Shit, he's an alcoholic." It was the oddest experience of my life. I went down to where DH was passed out in the sofa, woke him, told he was an alcoholic, that I wasn't prepared to accommodate his drinking problem and while I hadn't decided what I'd do if he didn't give up, I was prepared to face ending our marriage.

To my utter relief, he gave up and hasn't drunk in two years now, so ours is a happy ending.

My DF is an alcoholic, I rarely drink now.

Hi Op, my father is a recovering alcoholic - almost 20 years sober.
I do worry about the inheritance of the gene but i am a very sensible drinker and usually only have one. The only time I did worry was in the first lockdown where I felt I was drinking too much but I feel that was brief.
I think my grandmother’s father was alcoholic and I also worry for my sons and nephews as it seems to go through the male side.
I had counselling after my divorce and he asked about my mother’s father as apparently it’s very common for children of alcoholics to marry alcoholics. My mother didn’t really want to talk about it which makes me think he probably did have some kind of problem.
My ex drank very little as I was/am terrified of men who drink to excess.
I know exactly how you feel but I guess we just don’t know. It really does suck to be the child of an addict. It’s been good to read this thread, thank you.

My dad passed away suddenly after a lifetime of alcohol addiction and misuse. I've always been tea total because my childhood and young adult life was incredibly scarred by his drink problem, and now he's gone. I just can't touch the stuff

My dgm was an alcoholic, my father suffered a lot of neglect as a child/teen and as an adult spent a lot of time sorting out his mother's mess. At times my father drank too much and had no off switch once he started. My brother is an alcoholic. I've been teetotal since I was eighteen and realised that I could quite easily have an unhealthy relationship with alcohol. My own adult children don't drink alcohol so I hope we have broken the chain.