For some, alcoholism is a chronic disease; it is not just a habit that they can quit. As the Mayo Clinic explains, it is a physical dependence, one that develops gradually. As time progresses, it changes some of the chemicals in the brain that inhibit impulsiveness and excite the nervous system. While these chemicals may play a role in a person's addiction, other factors are to blame as well.
Gender
The University of Maryland Medical Center (UMM) explains that most alcoholics are men. Approximately 7 percent of men and 2.5 percent of women abuse alcohol. The Mayo Clinic agrees, noting that men are more likely than women to become dependent on alcohol.
Tara M. Chaplin, associate research scientist at Yale University School of Medicine states that when men are upset, they are more likely than women to drink alcohol than women. Chaplin adds that men's craving for alcohol for alcohol when upset can be a learned behavior, or be a difference in how the genders' brains respond to the reward pathways. The tendency of men to turn to alcohol during times of stress may place them at greater risk for developing alcohol-use disorders.
Genetics
An imbalance of brain chemicals may predispose a person to alcohol dependency, explains HealthyPlace.com. Certain genetic factors, such as specific genes and chromosomes passed along through generations, may make a person more susceptible to alcoholism. These genes and chromosomes affect the person's brain functions that control reward and motivation. Therefore, the more susceptible these chromosomes and genes are to alcohol dependence, the greater the risk of alcohol dependency being passed on from one family member to the next.
While no research provides conclusive evidence to support this theory, the National Council on Alcoholism states that a child of an alcoholic is four times more likely to develop the disease than a child of a nonalcoholic. This may also be learned behavior; if parents expose their child to an environment where alcoholism is considered normal, he may live his adult life the same way.
Age
The younger a person begins drinking, the greater her risk for becoming an alcoholic. The UMM states that approximately 2 million people ages 12 to 20 are considered heavy drinkers, while 4.4 million between the same ages are binge drinkers. Those who begin drinking during adolescence are at risk for developing alcoholism.
Behavioral Disorders
Both the Mayo Clinic and UMM list behavioral disorders as a cause for alcoholism. Severe depression or anxiety greatly increases a person's risk for abusing alcohol. On the flip side, those who are dependent on alcohol also suffer from an accompanying psychiatric disorder. Depression is the most common psychiatric problem among those with alcoholism.
Abuse
Adults who were abused as children have a greater risk of becoming alcoholics than children who were not. UMM states that 72 percent of women and 27 percent of men with substance abuse problems were either physically or sexually abused. In some cases, they suffered from both. In addition, those who were abused as children were also more resistant to treatment for alcoholism than those who were not.
