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LafayetteLady -> RE: ADDICTS (11/30/2013 6:35:41 PM)
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ORIGINAL: vincentML
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ORIGINAL: GotSteel
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ORIGINAL: DesFIP
Some of you have diabetes or kidney disease in your family tree, in my family we have alcoholism from the maternal line and mood disorders from my paternal line. They're still diseases.
It's certainly possible to brain wash people into thinking somethings true by asserting it enough times. Thing is that doesn't actually make it true. I wouldn't doubt you that your family has a genetic defect making you suseptible to becoming alcoholics. Thing is there's a very simple choice which can be employed to prevent your family from ever becoming alcoholics, just don't drink ever. And that's a pretty clear difference.
The problem with this 'just say no' argument is that infants born into a family of drinkers also perceive stress and dysfunction, which they may incorporate into their emotional development.
"Some 30% to 70% of alcoholics are reported to suffer from anxiety and depression," Pandey says in a news release. "Drinking is a way for these individuals to self-medicate."
Pandey's research focuses on the CREB gene, so-named because it produces a protein called CREB -- cyclic AMP responsive element binding protein. The CREB gene regulates brain function during development and learning. The gene is also involved in the process of alcohol tolerance, dependence, and withdrawal symptoms, writes Pandey.
A section of the brain -- called the central amygdala -- is another piece of this puzzle. Both the CREB gene and the central amygdala have been linked with withdrawal and anxiety. When there is less CREB in the central amygdala, rats show increased anxiety-like behaviors and preference for alcohol.
Pandey's newest study puts it all together: It is "the first direct evidence that a deficiency in the CREB gene is associated with anxiety and alcohol-drinking behavior," Pandey writes.
SOURCE
There are several realities that tend to get ignored when it comes to addiction. I won't say whether there is or is not an "addiction" gene. However, let's face it, it isn't an alcoholic gene as much as all addictions. Let's say this gene does exist. You could study a family with two alcoholic parents, and five children. I have read nothing that all would become alcoholics like the parents. In fact, some of those five children won't drink at all due to the bad memories of childhood.
What I have found, however, is that one must possess both the addiction gene, as well as the psychological issues to be an addict, which is evidenced by vincentML's statement above. Without both contributing factors, addiction is not likely to occur. And yes, I have dealt with and researched the subject.
As for incarcerating addicts, they aren't locked up for being an addict, they are locked up for the laws the addiction caused them to violate. Being an addict is not an excuse to break the law. However, because there is a high percentage of addicts incarcerated, funds should be budgeted for addiction programs much more than they currently are.
It is a well known statistical fact that current "recovery" programs are not long enough to prevent recidivism. A MINIMUM of twelve months in a residential program has shown to provide the best results for recovery from addiction. Currently, addicts are lucky if they get ninety days, and more often it is only thirty. Simply not enough time to learn the coping skills or deal with the underlying issues that caused the addiction.
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